CPU Shortage as the Biggest Challenge in the Second Half of the Year, Acer Adjusts Strategy to Focus on Bundled Shipments

The global PC market in the second half of the year is under dual pressure from component price increases and a decline in shipments. Acer's Chairman and CEO, Jason Chen, pointed out that the most core challenge at present is the shortage of CPU supply. Due to the advance purchase trend in the market in the first half of the year and an increase in average selling prices, it is expected that shipments in the second half of the year will noticeably decline, with the overall PC market declining by about 6% to 9% for the year.

In response to the shortage of components, Acer's core strategy has shifted to accurately docking with customer needs and implementing bundled shipments. For the commercial domain with rigid demand, such as enterprises, education, and governments, the company ensures the stable supply of peripheral components such as memory and storage by signing long-term agreements with original equipment manufacturers. This move aims to ensure that after the CPU arrives, it can be assembled and shipped immediately to prevent the core components from being missing, resulting in other components forming invalid inventory.

As of the end of this year's first quarter, driven by the rise in the average selling prices of components and finished products, Acer's inventory value has approached a historical high of 77.7 billion New Taiwan dollars (about 2.475 billion US dollars). Jason Chen stated that although the amount has significantly increased, there has not been a significant increase in the number of units of components. Currently, the overall inventory turnover cycle is still maintained at a healthy level of 6 to 8 weeks and has not put substantial pressure on operating funds.

In the North American education market where Acer has a traditional advantage, Apple has launched a low-price strategy of $100 for the MacBook Neo. Jason Chen acknowledged that the pricing strategy has strong competitiveness, but the other party is also limited by the supply situation. Acer is continuously consolidating its advantaged fields such as education and clearly stated that it will not blindly compete for a single product.