Acer Sales, Profit Jump in Q3

reported that its operating income

The Taipei, Taiwan-based company also said its revenue grew to $3.74 billion from $2.91 billion in the year-ago period. Acer recently closed its acquisition of Gateway, and the company did not break out separately any financial data from the Irvine, Calif.-based PC maker.

According to research house IDC, Acer shipped 5.4 million PCs, compared to 3.4 million units for the same quarter a year earlier -- meaning Acer has been able to grow its worldwide unit shipments and its profitability at the same time. The company remained behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo in worldwide market share prior to the Gateway deal. Gateway is also working to acquire France-based Packard Bell, and has delivered a binding offer to that company.

IDC, in its report earlier this month, said that Acer's 60 percent growth in PC shipments year-over-year was fueled largely in the Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia/Pacific regions, excluding Japan. But the analysts also suggested that as Acer grows in the U.S., pressure from its rivals could work to flatten its growth here.

Solution providers have said that, over the past 18 months, Acer's growth in the U.S. channels has been driven by aggressive pricing and its ability to outflank rivals, including Dell and Lenovo. But Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell has scoffed at Acer's suggestions that it could surpass the Round Rock, Texas-based PC maker in market share this year, and the rivalry between Lenovo and Acer has appeared to take on new urgency of late.

Earlier this year, Lenovo sought to buy Packard Bell but Gateway announced it would convert rights it had held to buy the company first. Acer, at the same time, announced it would buy Gateway.