ASUS CFO nervous over Acer issues

ASUS CFO David Chang on Friday commented that his company and others might face a ripple effect from Acer's European overstock writeoff. Depending on what systems had gone unsold, they could either have only a minimal effect or create shockwaves, he said. If the unsold inventory represents current PCs using Sandy Bridge-based Intel processors, the writeoff could amount to price dumping as the systems hit stores at steep discounts and temporarily boost Acer's European market share while squeezing out ASUS and others.

The exact size of the inventory being scratched from Acer's record isn't known. Digitimes understood from sources that nearly three million models could be affected. Regardless of size, the mass discounting could just be short term and force Acer to return to regular prices once it chewed up stock.

During the height of the netbook era, Acer had been one of the dominant PC builders and for awhile claimed the second place spot in market share. In the wake of the iPad, though, it has faced sustained problems maintaining its share and eventually forced out its CEO after an internal conflict over the direction the company needed to take to compete with Apple and fast-rising PC makers such as Lenovo. Its structure is now focused more on tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices, though it it hasn't risen quickly enough to offset sliding notebook sales.

Acer hasn't commented on its leftover PC supply.

By Electronista Staff