• Business Week, Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:30 AM

Gianfranco Lanci, the little-known Italian CEO of Taiwan's Acer, may be the most influential force in personal computers these days, Bruce Einhorn writes. The long-time also-ran has been gobbling up market share under his watch and could pass No. 2 Dell in the number of computers shipped this year. What's more, JPMorgan Chase analyst Gokul Hariharan feels Acer "has a strong chance of overtaking HP."

Lanci's strategy is to pass on savings from the company's lean operations. It sells only through retailers and other outlets, and outsources all manufacturing and assembly to reduce costs. That has helped cut overhead -- research and development, as well as marketing and general and administrative expenses -- to 8% of sales, well below the 14% overhead at Dell and 15% at HP.

"To run a business with lower costs is good when the market is growing," Lanci says. "It's even better when the market is not growing."

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