Acer chief resigns to pave way for 'new era'

J T Wang laments 'harsh challenges' of past few years as vendor plans global job cuts for 2014

Acer’s challenges continue after it announced a restructuring plan with existing chief executive J T Wang resigning following worse than expected financials for its third quarter.

It is also planning to cut its global workforce by seven per cent from next year, to generate [US] $100m in savings annually.

The vendor posted a 11.8 per cent drop in revenue for Q3 to [US]$3.11bn, and an operating loss of [US]$86.6m. It blamed the impact of gearing up for the Windows 8.1 sell in and the related management of inventory, plus compensation payments relating to the eMachines consumers litigation.

Looking ahead the firm expects shipments for its notebooks, tablets and Chromebooks to decrease by 10 per cent compared to Q3, but gross margin is expected to improve.

Wang will remain as chairman until the end of his tenure in June, and Acer said that corporate president Jim Wong will succeed Wang as new chief executive from 1 January.

In a statement, Wang said: “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 path the way for a new era.”

The Acer Board has set up a transformation advisory committee with board member Stan Shih as chairman and Acer co-founder George Huang as executive secretary.

The committee will propose changes in the company vision, strategy, and execution plans for the Board’s approval. They will work with the management team to carry out the transformation to increase shareholder value. To support new development needs, the Board has approved the issue of 136 million new common shares for a capital increase in cash.

A statement released by the board about Wang, said: “We are very grateful for Wang’s contribution and hard work. The past two to three years have been extremely tough for Acer due to the rapidly changing industry and market conditions. We fully respect Wang’s decision to step down.”

Wang added: “I wish to thank the board members for their support and Jim for assuming the CEO duties. I feel optimistic towards Acer’s future.”