Gartner cuts Acer's past PC shipments

By Kelvin Soh

TAIPEI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Research firm Gartner lowered its historical PC shipment data for Taiwan's Acer (2353.TW) by as much as 11 percent, saying its previous numbers overestimated the firm's actual shipments.

Acer's shipment figures have been in focus given the company's much-publicised effort to take pole position in notebook PC sales, and as it overtook Dell (DELL.O) to become the world's No.2 PC brand in the third quarter, Gartner and IDC said last month. [ID:nN14253064]

Acer's shipment data for the first quarter of 2008 through to the third quarter of this year were all cut, by more than 1 million PC units in some quarters, according to Reuters calculations from data provided by Gartner.

"Based on our analysis, we learned that our Acer shipment data were larger than reality," Gartner analyst Mika Kitagawa said in an email.

Acer spokesman Henry Wang said the company provides guidance to research firms on how many PCs are shipped every quarter, but declined further comment.

Acer, Taiwan's best known brand, has said it aims to boost revenue by more than 70 percent over the next three years, while it maintains margins to avoid repeating a similar meteoric rise and fall less than a decade ago. [ID:nTP270126]

Much of the growth is set to come from low-cost netbook PCs. By 0420 GMT on Wednesday, Acer shares were up 0.5 percent, in line with the wider market . The shares have nearly doubled this year versus a 70 percent jump in the market.

Most analysts pointed to the different sales tactics Acer has adopted to help push up sales as the main reason for the downward revision in shipment data.

"What's possible is that they're shipping these computers to customers such as telecom operators, who are then responsible for getting rid of those PCs to their own customers," said Daiwa Securities analyst Calvin Huang.

"How many PC units are eventually returned to Acer is another question, and that's something to look at in the future."

Acer was the fastest-growing PC brand in the third quarter, shipping over 25 percent more units than it did a year ago and outperforming Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N), Lenovo (0992.HK) and Toshiba (6502.T), according to industry tracker IDC.

In July-September, Gartner's preliminary numbers showed 12.5 million PC units shipped by Acer, but lowered this by 6.8 percent to 11.7 million units in its latest review.

The revision is even more pronounced for the first quarter as Gartner cut its shipment estimate to 7.8 million units from 8.8 million units.

Gartner's numbers, however, remain higher than rival IDC's in several quarters, including the 2009 third quarter, with IDC saying Acer shipped 10.9 million units, while Gartner estimates 11.7 million units. (Editing by Anshuman Daga) ((kelvin.soh@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508 0815; Reuters Messaging: kelvin.soh.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))