Acer Inc (宏電), which made losses selling personal computers in the first half, said the US-led retaliation to the Sept. 11 attacks boosted sales to nations in the Middle East, which have refused to do business with US companies.
The US launched attacks on Oct. 7.
Sales of Acer's branded PCs in the three months to December will rise about 25 percent from the previous quarter, Chairman Stan Shih (施振榮) told reporters, without giving third quarter figures.
"Middle eastern nations and companies have shifted orders from US makers to Taiwan because they resent the United States military actions against Afghanistan," Acer's Co-Chief Executive Officer Wang Jen-tang (王振堂) said at the press conference.
Acer lowered its fourth-quarter sales forecast to NT$21 billion (US$608 million) from NT$27 billion after shipments were disrupted by the terrorist attacks last month.
Acer said it expects to report losses in the third and fourth quarters as clients such as IBM Corp, the largest computer seller, cut orders.
The unexpected surge in demand in the Middle East may help Acer break even in the fourth quarter, although the company isn't keen to boost profit because that would also cause the share price to rise, Shih said.
"Why should I try to boost the earnings-per-share when investors can buy Acer shares at such low prices," he said.
Acer shares have fallen 15 percent this year, compared with a 19 percent drop in the nation's key TWSE Index.
The stock rose as much as 5.1 percent to NT$11.35 a share in early trading.
"A turnaround story on Acer won't mean much to investors because the computer industry has a long way to go before it recovers," said Henry Wang, who manages NT$300 million for ABN Amro Asset Management Taiwan Ltd's Kwanghua Fund.
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