Acer Inc (宏碁) is committed to developing a full line of Windows 8 devices, company chairman J.T. Wang (王振堂) said yesterday, as the world’s No. 4 PC vendor is banking on the new operating system to help reverse its lackluster performance.
Wang made the remarks at a press conference to introduce the company’s six new Windows 8-based and touch-enabled PC devices — two tablets (10.1 inches and 11.6 inches), two Ultrabooks (11.6 inches and 13.1 inches) and two all-in-one PCs (23 inches and 27 inches).
Wang said the new Microsoft operating system is the best of its kind and truly unique.
Photo: Bloomberg
“I’ve never been so supportive of Microsoft,” Wang said. “The new operating system enhances users’ experience and productivity by allowing them to switch from entertainment applications to work applications in an instant.”
“Acer will first focus on developing Windows 8 PC products, with plans to [commercially] launch its first Windows 8-based device in August and gradually launch all the announced products by the end of this year,” he said.
Wang said he does not think smartphones and tablets will be able to fully replace notebooks and desktop PCs, which still command a global market of 300 million to 400 million units a year.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
Windows 8 will help boost global Ultrabook shipments, Wang said.
“However, Acer is conservative about its second-quarter sales performance as consumers are still waiting for the official launch of Windows 8,” Wang said.
He forecast that Acer’s sales would begin to improve in the third quarter and show a significant pick-up in the fourth quarter as more Windows 8 devices hit the market.
The company’s global PC market share fell in the first quarter from a year earlier as shipments dropped 9.2 percent, the largest decline among the top five vendors, researcher Gartner Inc said in April.
Acer’s first-quarter consolidated revenue fell 11.4 percent from a year ago to NT$113 billion (US$3.8 billion). Its net profit plunged 72.1 percent to NT$331 million and earnings per share (EPS) dropped to NT$0.12 from NT$0.45 during the same period.
ASUSTEK
Rival Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) also announced six Windows 8-based devices at a separate press conference — one all-in-one PC, two tablets, a convertible notebook called Transformer Book and an ultralight notebook series called Taichi.
Available in both 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch screen sizes, the Taichi is as light and thin as its Zenbook series with a double-sided LED backlight display, which means touch screens on both the inside and outside of the lid.
The Transformer Book is billed as “the world’s first convertible notebook” — allowing users to instantly switch between a notebook and a tablet by simply detaching the screen — while the two tablets, when put in the mobile docks, instantly transform into compact clamshell ultraportable notebooks, complete with full QWERTY keyboards.
A company senior director said some of the Windows 8 devices announced yesterday would be introduced in the market at the same time that Microsoft launches its Windows 8 operating system — possibly in the fourth quarter, he added.
Asustek, the world’s No. 5 PC vendor and No. 1 motherboard maker, reported better-than-expected profits and margins for the first quarter of the year. The company has said it expects to eventually surpass its rivals in the Android and Windows 8 tablet business.
Net income rose 2.56 percent quarter-on-quarter, or 46 percent year-on-year, to NT$5.01 billion (US$171.2 million) in the first quarter, according to the company’s financial report.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
RSS