Acer Profits Tumble in Struggling PC Market

Acer, the 5th largest PC manufacturer worldwide has revealed their financial results for the second quarter of 2015. The data shows a downturn in sales of over 30% which is the smallest quarter recorded since 2006. Furthermore, the company only managed to ship approximately 60,000 units in May 2015, down 10,000 from the previous month! This scale of decline is quite evident in the graph below which was provided by Charles Arthur, a freelance technology journalist, on Twitter:

The figures correspond with existing evidence from Gartner which indicate PC shipments declined 9.5% in the second quarter of 2015. Finding the exact cause is difficult and it’s usually a combination of various factors. Firstly, PCs easily perform basic tasks for the average consumer and have a long lifespan providing the hardware doesn’t fail. The rise of cheap smartphones and tablets affected laptop sales as smart devices adopt an intuitive menu design for casual web browsing. Cost is an issue in certain regions due to a sharp appreciation of the U.S dollar compared to local currencies.

Acer are hoping for an upturn in their financial returns based on strong sales of ultra-light Chromebooks and gaming laptops. However, I’m not convinced these areas of the market will bring in anything more than smaller profit yields. Whatever the case, Acer is just another company trying to reverse the downward spiral of PC sales. The evidence is very clear and sales are reducing at a dramatic rate. Perhaps this slump will improve but I can’t see it happening due to the factors mentioned above.

Thank You Engadget for providing us with this information.