subject: Acer shares dive after July sales fall [print this page] The share prices of personal computer maker Acer Inc. plunged in Wednesday morning trade after it reported a 40 percent fall in July sales from the previous month, dealers said.
In mid-morning trade, Acer fell 4.02 percent to NT$83.50 (US$2.63) , with 10.81 million shares changing hands, while the weighted index was down 0.69 percent at 7,921.98.[Acer battery]
Acer posted NT$26.26 billion in July sales, down 40.87 percent from June and also down 37.67 percent from a year earlier.
"The decline in sales surprised the market, so investors rushed to dump their holdings at the opening, " Taiwan International Securities analyst Michael Chiang said.
Chiang said the current selling likely came largely from institutional investors.
The fall in revenue reflected the lingering effect of the debt problems in the eurozone which is one of Acer's main revenue sources.
"Even worse, Acer's disappointing sales data has added fears that a slower pace of the world economy recovery will affect global demand for high tech products," Chiang said.
Apart from Acer, other Taiwanese notebook computer firms, such as Quanta Computer Inc. and Wistron Corp. also reported double digit declines in July sales, although their drops were not as steep as Acer's.[ACER battery]
Chiang said the silver lining at the moment is that the euro is gaining momentum and the impact of the eurozone financial problems is likely to decrease.
In a statement, Acer said its July sales were affected by its introduction of more competitive products that use Intel's new CPU and chipset design and which will be rolled out in August in and September.
Its "key channel partners and distributors were well-informed in advance of the product rollout, enabling them to adjust their inventory and new orders accordingly," the company said.
Acer said it is maintaining its forecast that its that its sales in the third quarter of this year will rise 10-15 percent from the second quarter[laptop battery].
"But, as concerns over global demand remain, it needs more time for the pressure on Acer shares to ease," Chiang said.
He said the stock may not see strong support until it falls to NT$80.
