Acer Inc (宏碁), which unseated Dell Inc to become the world’s second-largest PC brand in the third quarter, could achieve its goal of becoming the world’s largest notebook brand before the end of the year.
Preliminary tallies by market researcher Gartner Inc showed that Acer commanded 21.2 percent of the global notebook market in the third quarter — only 0.2 percentage points behind the world’s No. 1, Hewlett-Packard Co — Acer chairman Wang Jeng-tang (王振堂) told reporters on the sidelines of an investor conference yesterday.
“We didn’t know what the competitor [HP] was doing ... but we’re closing in on the gap,” he said.
Acer had earlier set its sights on claiming the No. 1 title for portable computers in 2011, but Wang said on Wednesday that the goal could be achievable next year.
UPBEAT
Asked yesterday whether the company would be able to clinch the title even earlier than expected — i.e., the last quarter of this year — Wang did not give a direct answer but said he was upbeat about the company’s prospects and expected shipments to rise if there was no shortage of components.
The company is projecting a notebook shipment growth of 10 percent in the fourth quarter, with revenues rising between 10 percent and 15 percent from the third quarter.
Sales in the first quarter next year, usually a slow season, could see a sequential decline of 15 percent, CEO Gianfranco Lanci said.
Netbooks, as well as thin and light notebooks offering more than eight hours of battery life, would take center stage in its product portfolio next year.
Accounting for as much as 30 percent of all notebook sales, netbooks should continue to grow, with newer user segments and demand emerging next year, Wang said.
The company will have new netbook models ready for the commercial sector, with demand expected to boom in the second half of next year, he said.
NETBOOKS
Despite smaller rival Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩電腦) lead in introducing netbooks in the industry, Acer caught up and is now the leader in the segment with a market share of more than 35 percent.
Asustek said on Thursday it would focus more on conventional laptops to boost shipments next year as it expected its netbook sales to remain flat.
Acer expects its shipments of portable PCs — including both notebooks and netbooks — to reach 40 million units next year, up from this year’s estimated 30 million.
But average selling price (ASP) is expected to contract by between 5 percent and 10 percent next year, Lanci said.
The company already saw its ASP tumble by 15 percent this year amid a price war to attract consumers during the economic downturn.
For the first three quarters, Acer reported after-tax profits of NT$7.84 billion (US$243.3 million), or NT$2.98 a share, from NT$8.93 billion, or NT$3.61 per share, a year ago.
Consolidated revenues were NT$405.8 billion, down 1.3 percent compared with the first three quarters last year.
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