• Acer South Africa is looking to start assembling PC monitors locally in a factory in Boksburg, starting in July.
• Locally-made monitors will be for the consumer and commercial segments, starting at 24″ and 27″ with gaming monitors in the offing.
• Because the devices are made locally, Acer says that they will offer three-year exchange warranties with the devices “because we can.”

On Wednesday at the Acer Ignite showcase in Johannesburg, Acer South Africa announced that it would begin manufacturing screens locally for the consumer and commercial segments at a factory in Boksburg, on the East Rand.

Manufacturing at the facility, which Acer says would like to remain anonymous for now, is set to begin in earnest in July. The South African arm of the Taiwanese company is planning to import parts and then build the screens locally.

Glen Du Toit, Acer Country Manager for South Africa, told Hypertext that the impulse to manufacture products locally started when the team wanted to be more involved in the African continent and begin offering more affordable products.

“Importing fully-built units usually brings very high duties,” he said. “In November 2022, we got the blessing from Acer Global to start the process of establishing a partnership [with a local manufacturer].”

He told us that South Africa’s economic turmoil in recent years, and especially international greylistings affected the time it took for the products to begin manufacturing.

Acer South Africa is hoping to launch its locally-built screens for the second half of 2024. The Boksburg factory will be focusing on local assembly of devices, and mostly employs women from the local community.

The first locally-made screens to hit South Africa from Acer will be 24″ and 27″ monitors which will be available at most retailers in the country, explains Du Toit. The second iteration, that will go into full production in August/September will be the commercial monitor range.

Once both these ranges are being sold locally, Du Toit says that Acer will start building gaming monitors locally.

“We’re going to kick off with a 27″ gaming monitor for the end of the year, and that really aims to position Acer to be able to break down some of the barriers for the latest technology being made locally, as the type of monitor – QHD, 4K-type of the monitor – requires a bit more attention,” he explained.

He said that once these three phases are complete, Acer South Africa will then be looking for approval from Global to begin manufacturing other products locally.

One of the biggest benefits that local consumers can expect from buying locally assembled screens from Acer, compared to buying imported screens – aside from potentially lower prices – is that Acer South Africa can then set the warranties themselves.

“We’re going to be offering a three-year exchange warranty because we can,” he excitedly tells us.

“And it’s sustainable because we’re not having to support the price down to make it more affordable, locally manufacturing allows us from duty structure to maintain the price,” Du Toit adds.

This three-year exchange warranty means that the screens can be exchanged at no cost if they are damaged within three years and will set up Acer South Africa to be able to compete with exchange warranties offered by the likes of Dell.

Acer then becomes potentially the third manufacturer of PC monitors in South Africa, aside from Samsung and LG.

“We really are excited about it. There’s buzz around our office because it really communicates to the local team that Acer Global is taking South Africa and Africa seriously,” the country manager said.