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Acer Reports First Ever Quarterly Loss, Says Tablet 'Fever' Receding

Posted August 24, 2011 at 3:00pm by iClarified · 6742 views
Acer has reported its first ever quarterly loss and says it will be 'impossible' for the company to break even for the full-year, according to Reuters. The company lost T$6.79 bln much more than the consensus T$3.3 bln loss expected.

Chairman J.T. Wang told investors that Q2 was a "correction period" and that losses were worse than expected due to the clearing up of excessive inventory and severance payments for senior management resignations such as that of former CEO Gianfranco Lanci who left due to strategy disagreements.

The chairman said while he expects the "fever" for tablet PCs receding and notebooks regaining consumer interest, Acer will still see a loss in the third quarter, though it would be better than the second quarter.

"Today I have to say, trying to break even this year becomes impossible," Wang said, citing a worsening macro environment in Europe and the need for "more time and effort" for the restructuring.

HP is also having trouble with its PC business and has decided to focus on enterprise software, spin off its PC business, and stop selling tablets.

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