Acer: A Bumpy Road Ahead 宏碁：前路坎坷
The ongoing turbulence at former Taiwanese PC high-flyer Acer (Taipei: 2353) continues, with the company reporting its lowest quarterly profit in more than 6 years as low-cost netbooks — a big piece of 
its rapid rise — quickly fade in popularity. (English article; Chinese article) Acer’s sudden downturn has been almost as rapid as a rise that saw it become the world’s second biggest PC seller in just four or five years, largely due to its early bet that notebook PCs would eventually overtake traditional desktop models. That bet was largely the work of Gianfranco Lanci, the company’s former CEO who left last month over differences with senior management about the company’s direction. (previous post). I previously said Lanci’s departure was a major blow for Acer, and can already sense it is returning to its previous me-too approach to product development that nearly bankrupt the company a decade ago. Perhaps I’ll be wrong, but I’m not optimistic that Acer now has the leadership and vision that Lanci brought to avoid another steep downturn.
Bottom line: Acer is on the cusp of a big downturn, and needs to quickly regain its previous forward-looking approach to product development if it wants to avoid major problems.
宏碁<2353.TW>的坎坷之路仍在继续。这家公司的季度利润创下六年来的新低，因为其低价上网本人气骤降。宏碁曾在五年内跻身世界上第二大 PC品牌，其中大部分原因是它早就预见到笔记本电脑最终将超越传统的台式机。而如今，宏碁正在以其当年蹿红时同样的速度迅速衰落。当年的预测基本上是宏碁前首席执行官兰奇(Gianfranco Lanci)做出的。而如今，因为在公司发展方向上与公司高层高意见不一致，兰奇上个月辞职。我曾说过，兰奇的出走对於宏碁来说是个重大损失，而且可以发现，宏碁的产品发展方式又要回到十年前曾将公司几乎拖垮的老路。也许我是错的，但我对宏碁的领导能力和眼光并不乐观。
一句话：宏碁在衰落，如果不想出现大问题的话，需要马上重拾以往的前瞻式产品发展策略。
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Acer Takes a Hit With Lanci Leaving 宏基痛失兰奇
◙ Acer and Dell: One Cuts, One Pastes 宏基裁人、戴尔建厂
◙ Lenovo: Nothing New in LePad 2
