Acer stands by Q3 f'cast despite signs of PC slowdown

TAIPEI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Acer Inc. (2353.TW), the world's No. 3 PC seller, said on Tuesday its third-quarter sales target remains unchanged despite recent signs of a sector slowdown from industry giants Dell (DELL.O) and Compal Electronics (2324.TW).

The company expects its third quarter sales to rise 20-25 percent from the second quarter, heading into the important year-end holiday season, a company representative said.

"Our view hasn't changed and has been consistent," she said.

The company reaffirmed its target a day after Compal, the world's No. 2 contract maker of notebook PCs, lowered its 2008 sales forecast by up to 13 percent, citing slowing demand in the United States and Europe.

Compal also lowered its third-quarter shipment growth target to 15 percent from a previous 20 percent. Its shares fell by their daily 7 percent limit on Tuesday, amid a broader sell-off that saw the main TAIEX share index dip 3.5 percent.

One of Compal's major customers, Dell, the world's No. 2 PC seller, also warned at the end of last month that companies around the world were cutting technology spending.

Separately, local media on Tuesday cited Acer Chairman J.T. Wang as saying the company could sell up to 7 million of its recently launched low-cost Aspire One PCs, a new category of Internet-friendly models aimed at developing markets and casual users.

The report in the Chinese language Commercial Times also quoted Wang as saying the company could sell as many as 15 million of the units next year.

Acer sold more than 1 million Aspire One computers in September, and had previously targeted 5 million units this year.

"Our sales target is more than 5 million," the spokeswoman said. "Whether or not we can reach 6 million or 7 million will depend on sales conditions. Even though it's not bad now, we still haven't adjusted our target."

Acer shares closed down 4.07 percent in Tuesday trade. (Reporting by Roger Tung; writing by Doug Young; Editing by Ken Wills)