Acer expects its global PC market share to increase by 2 to 3 percent in an
economy that has brought greatly lowered expectations for PC sales and
shipments for 2009, and that has companies such as Dell
and Lenovo
looking at reorganizations and other measures.
In spite of that market share gain, Acer told Reuters that its netbook PC
shipments this year could be a third lower than its previous target because of
slackened demand due to the recession. Acer says it expects to ship 10 million
to 12 million netbooks compared with a previous forecast of 12 million to 15
million. That is still higher than the 5 million that Reuters says analysts
predicted.
PC sales are expected to be hit hard by the current recession in 2009, as
many organizations plan to stretch out their technology refresh cycles for yet
another year.
But the strength of Acer and Hewlett-Packard relative to rivals Dell and Lenovo
was forecast by analysts in autumn 2008.
FBR Research says fourth-quarter PC supply
chain checks indicated stronger-than-expected notebook shipments for HP and
Acer and weaker-than-expected shipments for Dell and Lenovo. But the company
notes that nearly all notebook makers had reduced their fourth-quarter shipment
expectations based on slowing global demand.
In a statement issued in January, Acer said:
Acer expects Q408
operating margin to be better or similar to Q308, while consolidated revenue
has been impacted by overall market situation, with a negative growth with 5
percent to 10 percent compared to Q407.
In the current worldwide economic situation, even though most of the channels
have been more cautious and less willing to carry inventory by year-end, Acer's
product demand has remained healthy and stable.
Less than a year ago, in summer 2008,
Acer
introduced a new series of back-end rebates in an effort to woo channel
partners.
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Channel News and Analysis 
