Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest PC maker, said yesterday that its notebook computer shipments could easily surpass the 15-million mark this year.
"We shipped 1.9 million portable computers in a month recently. We will easily pass 15 million units for the whole year," said Scott Lin (林顯郎), president of Acer's Taiwan operations.
Prospects are bright, given strong seasonal demand in the second half and a revamped line-up of Aspire consumer notebooks, he said.
The company earlier projected full-year shipments of 13 million to 14 million units.
To maintain its growth momentum and achieve its aim of overtaking Lenovo Group Ltd (
Despite market misgivings about the purchase, Lin said that the synergy would expand Acer's economies of scale, which in turn would boost its competitiveness, especially in the US.
"Gateway has already scaled back its work force to 1,600 to 1,700," he said, adding that future sales of the US firm's corporate business unit would further reduce its staff to 800.
This will make it easier to manage the US firm, compared with merging with other large-sized companies, he said.
The acquisition should therefore be completed smoothly, he said.
Meanwhile, the company said its recent advertising campaigns successfully reached out to potential buyers.
Acer spent nearly NT$100 million (US$3 million) in advertising campaigns to promote its new Aspire portable computers among home users in late June.
One of the product's main selling points is the inclusion of a Dolby Home Theater system, which produces virtual surround sound.
About 90 percent of a poll of 500 people conducted in the middle of last month knew the Aspire brand through TV commercials, said Calvin Chang (張敬仁), the company's marketing vice president.
Among those who knew the brand from advertising, 11 percent said they remembered the commercial for its Dolby system feature, while 3 percent referred to the Intel dual-core platform, he said.
"Two years ago, our survey, held in more than 10 major cities around the world, showed that consumers were highly disappointed by the sound system of notebook computers. Our partnership with Dolby allow us to offer a change," Lin said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last