Acer claims inventory problems are behind it

Bright future: Acer said it has resolved all inventory issues at its global press summit in Budapest.

Acer aims to win back disenchanted VARs after claiming it has resolved the channel inventory issues that dogged it during the first half of 2008.

The notebook vendor has claimed 90 per cent of stock is now less than 60 days old and 70 per cent is less than 30 days old, after taking a series of actions to reduce inventory.

Talking to CRN at Acer’s global press summit in Budapest, Acer UK’s managing director, David Drummond, admitted the vendor’s tally of unmanaged resellers has fallen to 1,800 in recent months.

He said Acer is offering financial incentives to its distributors to rebuild that to its traditional level of 2,500 to 3,000.

“Today we have four weeks of stock in the channel and three in transit, which, if anything, is a bit light. We have reduced and freshened up our inventory, and that alone is really helping partners choose Acer again,” he said.

Drummond added that Acer is positioning itself as a viable alternative for disgruntled HP partners.

“We can compete well on deals of up to 1,000 seats with all the usual suspects and can assure partners that we do not go direct,” he said.

“HP has spent years telling VARs they must move into services because there is no money in hardware, so I am not sure where they can go now it has bought EDS.”

Acer currently draws 80 per cent of its UK sales from its Aspire consumer range, but Drummond said the focus on consumer over professional sales was not set in stone.

Andrew Henderson, commercial director at VAR Lanway, was sceptical about whether Acer could make headway in the corporate space.

“Acer does not have a strong enough reputation for reliability in the corporate space and it will take years to win back the channel. The only vendor that can go head to head with HP is Dell,” he said.