Acer Inc (宏碁) has no plan to raise its prices as PC inventories are still high, company chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) said yesterday.
Chen’s remarks came after reports that the market leader, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), is planning to raise its PC prices in China and Southeast Asia to reflect the depreciation of the Chinese yuan. Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) also said it will follow suit if necessary.
“The inventory level of the five major PC vendors is still high in the market. They [Lenovo and Asustek] would not raise prices unless they really are on the verge of losing money,” Chen told reporters on the sidelines of an Internet of Things forum in Taipei.
Chen said Acer has worked to reduced its inventories since the beginning of this year, with levels now lower than its peers.
However, all PC companies need to work harder on their inventory adjustments amid the softer-than-expected PC demand this year, he said.
Other than the inventory issue, the volatility of foreign currencies in Europe and emerging markets still weighs on Acer’s sales performance, Chen said, as the depreciation of local currencies would affect consumer spending.
As for renewed purchases of PC products after Microsoft Corp’s new operating system hit the market at the end of last month, Chen said he is cautious over whether Windows 10 could really boost replacement demand in the market.
“It is still too early to tell,” he said.
Chen also said that Acer has no plan to carry out a share repurchase program despite its stock price being rocked by the volatile market over the past few days, even though Acer’s founder and former chairman Stan Shih (施振榮) said moves like that could safeguard shareholders’ interests.
The company’s shares closed at a historical low of NT$9.71 in Taipei trading on Monday, below its par value. They ended at NT$11.15 yesterday.
“Share buyback could only bring a positive effect for a short period of time. There are other ways to protect shareholders’ interests, such as cash dividend distribution,” Chen said.
He reiterated that Acer hopes to fill its NT$1.1 billion (US$33.57 million) deficit related to share buybacks and to distribute dividends to shareholders next year.
As the company’s market value totaled NT$34.52 billion based on Taipei trading yesterday, there are speculations that the company might be acquired by rivals.
However, Shih said he is not worried.
“It is not going to be easy for them to do so as I believe no shareholders would want to sell Acer’s shares while the stock price is about NT$10,” Shih said.
The company’s shares have plunged 47.78 percent since the beginning of this year, compared with the 17.1 percent decline in the TAIEX over the same period.
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