Taiwanese PC maker Acer said that its notebook shipments are expected to decrease by 10% to 15% for the first quarter of 2013, due to seasonal factors.
According to reports in foreign media, Wang Jeng-tang, chief executive officer of Acer said the sales decline was also attributed to customers' demands for new product replacements. Some users turned to smartphones, tablets, and Windows 8 products. In October 2012, Microsoft launched its new version operating system to compete with Apple; however, demand for PCs running on Windows 8 operating system were currently limited.
Despite the current situation, Wang was optimistic about the future. He said as long as Microsoft continues to promote its new operating system and Surface tablets, the demand for Windows 8 PCs will definitely be improving.
Wang predicted that tablet computing business will still be the sales growth point for Acer. Acer recently launched its new 7-inch tablet Iconia B1-A71 with price of USD168 and the product achieved good sales since its launch.
Acer expected to ship over five million tablets in 2013, while the number was 1.8 million in 2012. Wang said Acer will launch new Windows 8 products in the second quarter of 2013, which will be a good opportunity for their sales to rebound.
In addition, Acer plans to ship two million smartphones in 2013, which is four times that of last year.