-- Acer swings to second-quarter net profit, but below market estimates

-- 3Q likely to be weak as customers delay purchases to await Windows 8 devices

-- Intense competition and sluggish consumer demand to continue weighing on Acer

(Adds background in 2nd-4th, 10th-11th paragraphs, company's comments in the 8th-9th paragraphs, analysts' comments in 5th paragraph)

By Eva Dou and Lorraine Luk

TAIPEI--Taiwanese personal computer maker Acer Inc. (2353.TW) swung to a net profit in the second quarter, but the company continues to struggle with slow sales and stiff competition from Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad and other tablets.

Last month, Acer revised down its 2012 growth forecast for total notebook shipments, tablets and smartphones as the euro-zone debt crisis and global economic uncertainties weigh on consumer demand. Acer said it expects full-year shipment growth to be between flat and up to 5%, compared to its previous forecast of up to 10%.

The revised guidance mirrors the poor outlook in the broader PC industry. Global shipments of PCs fell 0.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, Gartner Inc. and International Data Corp. said last month, despite heavy marketing by Intel Corp. (INTC) and PC makers to promote a new breed of sleek notebook computers called Ultrabooks. It was a seventh consecutive quarter of flat or single-digit growth for the industry, Gartner added.

Acer is the world's third-largest personal computer maker by shipments after Hewlett-Packard Co. and Lenovo, according to Gartner.

Analysts say Acer is likely to see little growth in the third quarter because of intensifying competition and as customers postpone purchases ahead of the expected launch of new Windows 8-based devices in the last quarter.

The company said its second-quarter net profit was 56 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1.9 million), compared with a net loss of NT$6.8 billion in the second quarter of 2011, when it reported a US$150 million inventory write-off and corporate restructuring, including the departure of former Chief Executive Gianfranco Lanci. Acer said a one-time tax settlement of NT$410 million (US$13.71 million) in Europe also weighed on its second-quarter profit, but didn't elaborate.

The latest result was below the average NT$382.67 million net profit forecast of six analysts polled earlier by Dow Jones Newswires.

Second-quarter revenue rose 8.3% to NT$110.6 billion but fell 2.2% from the first quarter as unfavorable economic conditions sapped consumer demand in second quarter, the company said.

"Acer will start shipping products for the launch of Microsoft Windows 8 in August and September, therefore anticipates revenues to rebound, and consequently expects third-quarter revenues to reach about on par with second quarter," the company said in the statement.

Acer has been recovering from inventory writeoffs and a management reshuffle following the discovery of accounting irregularities in its European and Middle Eastern operations in the first half of last year. Analysts said Acer is fighting an uphill battle in the already-shrinking PC sector, particularly in Europe, its largest market, where Hewlett-Packard Co, Lenovo Group Ltd. and Asustek Computer Inc. are much more aggressive in marketing and sales.

The company's former chief executive, Gianfranco Lanci, resigned last year when the company struggled with stiff competition from Apple's iPad. Mr. Lanci then joined rival Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK) several months later and now heads the European operations of Lenovo.

Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@dowjones.com and Lorraine Luk at lorraine.luk@dowjones.com

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