Atlas has to decide whether to acquire La Indeca, increasing its presence in Central America, or to focus on the larger markets of Latin America, where faster growth is possible. In 2000, Jorge Rodriguez headed Atlas Electrica, the largest home appliance firm in Central America. Although it has almost doubled its sales in 1990, to the end of the decade Atlas experiencing decline in market share in its home region and is facing increasing competition from other regions, especially from Mexican and Korean multinationals. At the time, the main competitor of Atlas "in Central America, El Salvador based Indeca, was put up for sale. Atlas Electrica, based in Costa Rica, were more than a dozen Latin American countries. Since its inception in 1961, he served as the Central American markets with various kinds of household appliances, later focusing on white goods to middle-income segment of the Central American consumers. In the mid 1990's, through a strategic alliance with AG Electrolux of Sweden, Atlas had expanded to Latin American markets outside Central America. "Hide
by Michael E. Porter, Arturo Condo Source: Harvard Business School 17 pages. Publication Date: November 7, 2003. Prod. #: 704435-PDF-ENG
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