Taiwan Acer CEO resigns over 3Q widening loss

TAIPEI - J. T. Wang resigned as chairman and CEO of Acer Tuesday as the Taiwanese personal computer maker reported a net third-quarter loss of Tw$13.1 billion (S$550 million).

Wang’s resignation has been approved by the board of directors but he will remain in the chairmanship until the end of his tenure next June, the company said in a statement.

“Acer encountered many complicated and harsh challenges in the past few years. With the consecutive poor financial results, it is time for me to hand over the responsibility to a new leadership team to pave the way for a new era,” Wang said.

His position as CEO will be filled by president Jim Wong from January, but the company did not say who will become chairman after June.

The company saw its net loss rise from $11.39 million in the second quarter.

Third-quarter revenues dropped 11.8 per cent year-on-year to Tw$92.2 billion.

The company said the third-quarter loss resulted from a rise in inventory levels and from one-time compensation payments related to longstanding litigation.

Shipments of Acer’s notebooks, tablet PCs and Chromebooks are expected to fall 10 per cent in Q4 compared to the third quarter, the company said.

In the face of the tough outlook, Acer has set up a business restructuring group led by founder Stan Shih and co-founder George Huang.

It envisages a seven per cent cut in the number of global employees next year.