Acer CEO Resigns as Tablets Cannibalize PC Sales

Acer, which over the past couple of years has competed with Dell for the position of the world’s second-largest maker of PCs, is looking for a new president and CEO after Gianfranco Lanci resigned March 31 following a disagreement with the board of directors over the direction of the company.

Lanci’s resignation came after a meeting with the directors, in which the two sides could not agree on several aspects of Acer’s future, from growth to customer relations to brand management, the company said in a statement. The resignation is immediate, and J.T. Wang, currently the company’s chairman, will fill in as acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found. Lanci had been talking with the directors about the company’s future for months, without being able to come to an agreement, the company said in a statement.

Lanci had been with Acer since 1997, was appointed president in 2005 and became CEO in 2008.

The resignation came less than a week after Acer executives lowered their first-quarter PC sales forecast from a 3 percent increase over the same period last year to a 10 percent decline. Executives attributed the troubles to weaker demand in both the United States and Europe. The company’s PC sales also reportedly have been hurt by the rise in popularity of tablets, led by Apple’s iPad.

Acer also was a leader in the netbook space, which was popular during the global recession but has begun to wane with the growth in tablets. Apple, which has held a dominant position in the market since introducing its iPad last year, now faces a host of competitors–including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Samsung Motorola and Research In Motion–joining the fray.

Acer in April is expected to release its Android-based Iconia Tab A501 4G tablet, which AT&T announced at the CTIA Wireless 2011 show it will sell.

"This tablet is packed with features that will enable HD gaming and exceptional video playback," David Haight, vice president of business development for AT&T’s Emerging Devices unit, said in a statement at the time of the carrier’s announcement. "It offers a first-class, on-the-go entertainment experience."

For more, read the eWEEK article: Acer CEO Resigns as Tablets Eat Into PC Business.