Computer companies splashed out with discounts and giveaways at the four-day Taipei Multimedia Show, which opened yesterday, in an attempt to stimulate sales amid slowing consumer spending.
Acer Inc, the world’s third-largest PC manufacturer, lowered the price of its 14.1-inch Aspire 4920G model by NT$3,900, or 10.6 percent, to NT$32,900 per unit for the show.
The company is also offering the entry-level 14.1-inch Aspire 4320 model for around NT$20,200, targeted at the back-to-school market.
PHOTO: CNA
“The recent increase in inflation has made local computer companies worry about sales this quarter,” the traditional peak season, Karl Chen (陳瑞豐), an Acer manager, told the Taipei Times at the show yesterday.
Acer lowered its average selling price per unit by NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 at the end of last month after the company saw sales drop 10 percent last month from the previous month in the south.
Chen said Acer aimed to sell 2,000 to 3,000 laptops at the multimedia show.
The company is still targeting 20 percent year-on-year growth in revenue this quarter with the help of the latest sales promotion, he said.
Instead of lowering its prices, local PC maker Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) is offering shoppers free multi-function printers.
Asustek said the nation’s economic slowdown had already led to a decline in its average selling price, which was slashed by NT$2,000, or 5.56 percent, from NT$36,000 to NT$34,000 per unit in the April-June quarter.
Nevertheless, the company said it was confident that domestic sales would grow between 25 percent and 30 percent this quarter from a year ago.
With the launch of new platforms and computer models this quarter expected to stimulate the market, Asustek is predicting its average selling price will remain at it present level, said Zace Huang (黃立中), a product sales supervisor at the company.
Asustek aims to sell around 3,000 laptops, excluding its range of Eee PCs, during the show this year, up 50 percent from 2,000 units a year ago, with an average selling price ranging between NT$30,000 and NT$32,000, Huang said.
“Although rising inflation will definitely affect demand to a certain degree, the [expected] increase in shipments of low-cost laptops and notebook computers this quarter should be enough to make up for the drop in shipments of high-end models,” Kirk Yang (楊應超), a former Citigroup computer hardware analyst and now chief financial officer and executive director of Hong Kong-based Ta Yang Group (大洋集團), said by telephone yesterday.
Ta Yang Group supplies between 40 percent and 45 percent of notebook PC keyboard components worldwide.
The Taipei Multimedia Show runs through Monday at Exhibition Hall 1 of the Taipei World Trade Center.
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