Dell slipped to third place in the computer-maker race last year, losing global market share as upstart Acer gained with its success in selling low-cost computers.  Business Week's Bruce Einhorn writes that Dell's future depends on how well it does against Taiwan-based Acer in China and India:

Dell's comeback strategy hinges partly on China and India. The company had sales of about $4 billion from China, according to Felice, making China Dell's second-largest market, behind the U.S. Sales grew 81% in China, which now accounts for 7.5% of the total. Last November, Dell launched its first smartphone, the Mini 3, with state-owned China Mobile (941:HK), the largest cellular operator in the country. The company, which also began selling the Mini 3 in Brazil, plans to launch it in the U.S. with AT&T (T) this year. "We are in very early stages" of the smartphone business, Felice said. "But we have had good sales results in China."

In PCs, Dell's improving Chinese sales haven't translated into better market share. According to Felice, Dell got a big boost from the Chinese government's stimulus package, which promoted purchases of computers. "The stimulus has helped," said Felice. "A lot of it was aimed at small businesses," he said. That's a segment of the industry where Dell has traditionally been strong. Dell's market share in China for the fourth quarter of 2009, however, fell to 8.2%, compared with 9.5% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Dell was the only one of the three biggest vendors in China to lose share: Lenovo grew from 30.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 33.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to IDC data; HP went from 10.9% at yearend 2008 to 14.3% in the fourth quarter of last year.

Read Dell Hopes to Catch Acer With Help from China, India here.