By Eva Dou
TAIPEI--Taiwanese personal-computer maker Acer Inc. (2353.TW)
said Monday that it is feeling "far more comfortable than
previously" about the uptake of Windows 8 devices due to support
from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).
Acer President Jim Wong told the Wall Street Journal on the
sidelines of a media event in Taipei that he expects sales of
Windows 8 touch-based devices to pick up in the second half of the
year. He declined to specify what support Microsoft has given Acer
and PC makers. Several sources in Taiwan said Microsoft has
recently offered steep discounts on Windows 8 to PC makers to boost
development of touch-controlled devices.
Mr. Wong said the company's operating margin had already
bottomed at 0.3% in the third quarter and is expected to rise this
year. The company expects its tablet shipments to exceed 5 million
units this year, with a 50% chance of reaching 10 million, boosted
by strong demand for Acer's new low-cost tablet, the Iconia B1, he
said.
He also said the company's notebook PC shipments will likely
rise by a single-digit percentage this year.
The company is due to release its fourth-quarter results March
19. In a report by Gartner dated Jan. 14, Acer's PC
shipments--including desktops and laptops but not tablets--dropped
11% to 8.62 million units in the fourth quarter from 9.69 million
units a year earlier. Its global market share slipped to 9.5% in
the fourth quarter from 10.2% in the same quarter in 2011, but it
remained the world's fourth biggest player by market share after
Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Dell.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
