TAIPEI/HONG KONG: Acer Inc, the world's No.3 PC brand, said it aims to book revenue of $2.5 billion in China next year and expects to become Asia's No.2 PC brand, helped by a deal with China's Founder Technology Group Corp.

Acer would gain access to Founder's channel network and operate the Chinese company's marketing efforts, while Founder would run Acer's after-sales services and provide support for its PC manufacturing operations, it said in a statement late on Wednesday.

"What Acer really wants from this agreement is to gain access to Founder's PC distribution network," said Jenny Lai, an analyst with CLSA. "It's very difficult to break into China's distribution network, especially in the smaller cities, and this should help them gain market share there."

Former Founder chief executive Lan Ye would join Acer as general manager of its Founder business operations, Acer added.

Acer sold about 512,000 PCs in China for a market share of 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year, while Founder sold 991,000 PCs for a 6.3 per cent market share, according to research firm Gartner.

In Asia, Acer ranks behind China's Lenovo Group Ltd, global leader Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc, research firm IDC said in July.

Revenue from China made up about 5 per cent of Acer's total sales of $4.9 billion in the first three months of this year, according to figures posted on the company's website.

The announcement came after Acer posted a quarterly profit that matched market expectations on Wednesday.