PC brand Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said it would likely raise prices for laptop computers in the second half of the year if a squeeze on component supplies from Japanese manufacturers continues.
Current inventories of -Japanese-made components could last until the end of next month, Acer president for Taiwan operations Scott Lin (林顯郎) told reporters on the sidelines of a product launch.
Acer possesses a month’s supply of notebooks and retailers such as Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (燦坤實業) have another month’s supply. Contract manufacturers such as Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) have two to three more weeks of stock, which means Acer’s inventory would last until about the end of next month, he said.
Photo: Chen Ping-hung, Taipei Times
With stocks expected to run low in June, a price rise is possible because of a shortage in components from Japanese manufacturers, which are still reeling from the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Even though some Japanese facilities have resumed production to a certain extent, they might not be able to fully cope with demand, Lin said.
In anticipation of a possible price adjustment, consumers at a computer fair in Kaohsiung snapped up the latest Acer notebooks from last Thursday to Monday, causing a three-fold rise in the company’s sales, he said. Another company fair commences in Taipei today at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Hall 1 and ends on Monday.
Acer is also upbeat on sales of its first tablet device — Iconia Tab — launched last week in Taiwan. The company has sold 1,000 tablets so far and a telecoms operator has placed an order for 4,000 units, Lin said.
“The tablet war has begun. It isn’t Acer’s and Asustek Computer’s (華碩) battle against Apple. It’s the Google-led camp confronting Apple,” Lin said.
He acknowledged Apple’s dominance in the tablet market, but said other makers stood a chance of seizing market share by using Google Inc’s Android platform.
“The more you limit the users, the more problems will arise,” the Acer president said.
The so-called open platform means that Acer tablets offer USB ports for users to share files, as well as Flash support for Web page views — features missing from Apple’s iPad, Lin said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks