Acer Inc, the world's fifth-largest personal-computer (PC) vendor, said yesterday that it expects its notebook business to squeeze into the top five in the US market by the end of this year, company chairman Wang Jen-tang (王振堂) said yesterday.
"Acer's business in the US market is developing positively," Wang told a press conference before revealing the company's first-quarter earnings.
First-quarter earnings jumped 54.6 percent year-on-year to NT$2.15 billion (US$68.7 million), or NT$1.04 per share, on consolidated revenue of NT$65.71 billion, up 32.9 percent from a year ago. The company hoped to create an after-tax net income of NT$7.2 billion on consolidated revenue of NT$283.6 billion this year.
Acer was ranked the eighth largest laptop vendor in the US in the first quarter of the year, the company said, citing International Data Corp figures.
Acer returned to the US market in 2003 after suffering losses for years. The company hopes its re-entry to the US and China will help propel it into the top three in the world's PC arena in about two years.
It may require more time for Acer's notebook business to break into the top five in China following a management reshuffle earlier this month, Wang said.
Revenue in China is expected to grow to between US$300 million and US$400 million this year, from around US$250 million last year, he said.
The company's board yesterday approved a dividend of NT$2.90 per share, which is comprised of a NT$2.30 cash dividend and a NT$0.60 stock dividend.
"Acer is the company that could have the brightest outlook among the hardware players in Asia," said Kirk Yang (楊應超), head of Asian technology hardware research at Smith Barney Citigroup.
The execution power of Acer's management team is strong enough to allow the company to grab a bigger market share in the future, Yang said, adding that Acer is expected to perform well in the US market this year and to expand in China following the management restructuring.
Acer shares yesterday closed down 2.48 percent at NT$51.2 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Consolidation of the PC sector worldwide has been a hot topic since China's PC giant Lenovo Group (
"We are open on the merger-and-acquisition issues," Wang said, adding that the company would not make such a move unless it found an objective that would complement Acer's strength.
"We cannot see such companies in the market ... and we don't have any plan today," the executive said, dismissing market speculation that Acer might acquire Siemens AG's handset unit or Hewlett-Packard Co's less-than-lucrative PC business.
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