© ROOT-NATION.com - Use of content is permitted with a backlink.
IFA in Berlin is always a test of endurance, with tech giants competing for the public’s attention across an endless maze of exhibition halls. Yet behind the flashy announcements, there is always a pragmatic business strategy. To understand where the industry is really heading, we met with Emmanuel Fromont, President of Acer’s EMEA Operations. His career offers a unique cross-section of the IT market’s evolution, from working at HP and IBM to successfully integrating the Packard Bell brand into the Acer ecosystem and launching the Chromebook line in the United States to great success.
Today, Fromont oversees one of the company’s most challenging macro-regions, and our conversation quickly went beyond the usual discussion of gigahertz, touching on the economics of artificial intelligence, energy independence, and the remarkable resilience of Acer’s Ukrainian team.
Read also: Acer’s Top New Products and the Long-Awaited Return of Packard Bell at #IFA2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Gadget for the IFA Marathon and Real-World Battery Life
The pace of today’s tech exhibitions demands maximum reliability from our devices. Asked what personally helps him stay connected, Emmanuel Fromont noted that the PC industry has finally reached the level engineers had dreamed of for years. At the same time, he emphasized that the company is focused on real-world products: around 95% of what is showcased at its booths is already shipping or is expected to go on sale in the near future.
According to him, true freedom means no longer having to constantly hunt for a power outlet. Today’s energy-efficient platforms have fundamentally changed the way we use our work tools.
“For me, the main device is my computer. We’ve been talking about this for so long, and now, finally, you don’t need a power adapter,” says the Acer EMEA president. “You literally put your computer in your bag in the morning and don’t think about finding an outlet, knowing it will last you the whole day. Lightweight computers with 20-hour battery life are simply incredible.”
Energy Independence and Adapting to New Realities
For Ukrainian users facing constant blackouts and unstable power grids, battery life has gone from being a welcome bonus to a basic necessity. Acer understands this demand very well, making energy efficiency a key driver of value across its entire portfolio.
The secret lies not only in increasing the physical capacity of batteries, but also in fundamentally changing the underlying architecture. Thanks to new semiconductor designs and the integration of neural processing units (NPUs), devices have learned to distribute workloads much more intelligently while reducing heat dissipation.
“The world as a whole needs to consume less energy, but at the same time, devices need to offer longer battery life. That is the beauty of today’s semiconductor industry – the ability to create designs that require less and less power without any compromises in performance,” Fromont explains.
Read also: Report from the Motorola booth at #IFA2026: The company is stepping up its game!
The Economics of Artificial Intelligence: Why the Future Lies in Local Computing
The integration of AI into new devices is advancing at a breakneck pace, but the excitement surrounding the capabilities of cloud-based neural networks is gradually running up against the hard realities of the corporate world. Businesses are starting to count the costs, and the price of cloud token usage is becoming a serious obstacle to scaling AI processes.
That is why, in Acer’s view, the future lies in local, on-premise computing. Small language models (SLMs) are becoming increasingly powerful, allowing complex tasks to be handled directly on the device. This not only reduces costs but also helps protect sensitive corporate data.
“People are beginning to realize that they don’t need one gigantic model that can do everything in the world. They need specialized AI agents. The cost of cloud-based AI is a real expense for companies. So if AI moves to local devices, to smaller boxes that are closer in form factor to PCs, that will become a huge market for us,” Emmanuel emphasizes.
Vero Sustainability: Is Repairability Good for Business?
Acer’s eco-focused Vero line is celebrating its fifth anniversary. While the first models emphasized the use of 30% recycled plastic – a feature that has since become standard even across the mainstream Aspire series – the new generation has brought a revolution in repairability. Engineers have managed to overcome the limitations of thin laptop designs, where components are typically glued to the motherboard.
Now, the modular design allows users to replace the battery, RAM, and even individual I/O ports themselves by simply removing a few screws. When asked the obvious question of whether making devices more durable could undermine the company’s business model, which relies on selling new hardware, Fromont gives a refreshingly direct answer.
“Repairability is our next frontier. Some people ask whether we will sell fewer computers if they last longer. That’s not true. If you do the right things for your customers, your company will be successful. So the more Vero products I sell, the happier I am, because I’m confident that it strengthens the brand.”
Read also: Report from the Xiaomi booth at #IFA2026: Human × Car × Home
The Ukrainian Office as an Example of Resilience
Discussing Ukraine’s potential as a future hub for localizing services, Fromont noted that the company already relies on a large-scale infrastructure across EMEA, with around 1,000 employees providing support in 28 languages. The Ukrainian team plays an exceptionally important role in this structure, demonstrating remarkable resilience.
Rather than reducing its presence, Acer’s headquarters has expanded the responsibilities of the Ukrainian office. Despite complex logistics and the constant challenges posed by the war, local specialists effectively manage business operations not only in Ukraine but also in the Adriatic markets and several other countries in Eastern Europe.
“We involve the Ukrainian team as much as possible. […] The business in Ukraine continues to operate steadily thanks to strong local partners. I see how hard people work, how incredibly motivated and energetic they remain, and how determined they are to make things better. Everything is possible once logistics become easier after the war, but we continue to rely on our team today.”
Electric Scooters and Micromobility in an IT Giant’s Ecosystem
The appearance of electric scooters at the booth of a computer giant may seem unexpected, but for Acer’s management, it is a perfectly logical step. Asked whether the company plans to go further and, for example, start producing drones, Fromont smiled and noted that there are no such projects in the works.
Micromobility, however, which he personally uses at home with his children, fits perfectly into the brand’s accumulated expertise. Developing modern urban transportation today is as much about software and power controllers as it is about mechanical engineering.
“Why did we enter the electric scooter segment? Because an electric scooter is, first and foremost, about optimizing battery life and developing a smartphone app that works reliably with it. And we know very well how to write software and optimize power consumption. It is an expansion into lifestyle products that is 100% aligned with our computer DNA.”
The Ideal Device of the Future in Five Years
Looking ahead, the president of Acer EMEA predicts tectonic shifts in device form factors. If today we have a clear distinction between smartphones, tablets, and laptops, then five years from now, a user living in an extremely turbulent world will need absolute versatility.
This versatility will be based on convergence – the seamless flow of functions between screens and form factors. A vivid hint at such a future is the Project DualPlay gaming concept, which combines the portability of a console with the performance of a PC.
Read also: AI Has the Right to Steal – and the U.S. Government Supports It
“Future growth will come from convergent devices – erasing the boundaries between the phone, tablet, and computer. Add to that the huge new market for compact local AI boxes, and it gives us enormous potential to expand the ecosystem.”
Emmanuel Fromont’s vision for the future of the industry clearly articulates Acer’s new philosophy: technology should be as human-centered, practical, and resilient as possible. The shift in focus from gigahertz to repairability, battery life, and the security of local AI shows that the company is listening to the needs of the real world.
This approach resonates perfectly with another major event at the exhibition – the centennial anniversary and revival of the legendary Packard Bell brand, whose integration into Acer was once overseen by Fromont himself. With its new “Tech it easy” slogan, the brand is returning to the market with simple, intuitive, and emotionally warm devices for everyday life, symbolically bringing the circle full circle: from highly complex corporate AI servers to a home vinyl record player, the ultimate goal of technology is to make our lives more comfortable.
Insights Instead of Conclusions
If we set aside the formalities and look at Emmanuel Fromont’s remarks through the lens of broader industry trends, our conversation reveals several less-publicized but telling directions for the market. Cloud-based AI is gradually running into a budget ceiling: businesses are starting to scrutinize token costs much more closely, so the next battle among manufacturers will revolve around compact local computing stations and specialized agents that ensure data security while delivering real savings.
At the same time, pragmatism is winning out in the market – the statement that 95% of the devices showcased are already ready to ship is a direct challenge to the industry’s long-standing habit of presenting “virtual concepts.” Attitudes toward the lifecycle of gadgets are changing as well: the modularity of the Vero line shows that repairability has evolved from an environmental reporting metric into a powerful loyalty-marketing tool, with longevity keeping customers around more effectively than any advertising campaign.
The same calculation underpins Acer’s expansion into micromobility and the revival of Packard Bell – the company is simply scaling its expertise in energy efficiency and software development into new, potentially lucrative niches. And perhaps the most important signal is that the Ukrainian team, which has successfully managed other European markets during the war, is viewed by headquarters not as a problem area, but as a crisis-tested operational and intellectual foundation for the future.
Read also: SpaceX Is Building a Giant Spaceport: What It Means for the Company
