Acer's laptop shipments to hit 30 mln units this year

Oct. 29, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Taiwan-based Acer Inc, the world's third-largest PC brand, is expected to ship more than 30 million laptop PCs this year, as the market demand is recovering, said Gianfranco Lanci, president of the firm.

Acer holds an optimistic outlook on laptop demand, according to Lanci, who added that most markets, except for that of Eastern Europe, appear to have recovered.

The firm predicted that its revenue for the fourth quarter will grow 25% year on year compared with the NT$110.5 billion of the corresponding period of 2008.

Acer has plans to consolidate its business in mainland China and hopes to increase its market share from 7% to 10% before the end of this year.

Reportedly, Acer has issued a worldwide recall of Aspire laptops to replace microphone cables that may overheat and cause malfunction. More than 12,000 laptop PCs are involved in mainland China alone. The recall will not impact Acer's operations in the mainland Chinese market, which currently accounts for around 5% of Acer's total revenue, according to Lanci.

Acer shipped 10.96 million PCs globally in the third quarter of this year and ranked second after Hewlett-Packard, accounting for 14% of global PC shipments in the period, China Knowledge reported earlier.