DRIVER WANTED:After another weak quarter, a Barclays analyst said that Acer could lose its market ranking to Asustek because it lacks a strong item to propel growth

Taipei Times
Date: May 11, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Acer Inc (宏碁) last week reported its fifth consecutive profitable quarter for last quarter, but analysts said the company is not out of the woods yet, as they do not see any major growth catalyst in the near future.

The company’s issue is not cost control, but about seeking a revenue growth driver because it would be difficult to cut costs much lower, Barclays PLC analyst Kirk Yang (楊應超) said in a note on Thursday, after Acer reported net income of NT$173 million (US$5.62 million) for the first quarter of the year.

“Unless Acer can find a way to grow its sales, now down year-on-year for 11 quarters in a row … it will experience diseconomies of scale, and we believe it could soon lose its global No. 4 PC market share position to Asustek (華碩),” Yang said.     [FULL  STORY]