Demand and rising costs: Acer reassess its prices

Acer, the second largest manufacturer of personal computers behind HP has decided to increase the prices of its machines for the first time in five years. The reason: the high demand for him to multiply the impact of rising manufacturing costs.

"The average selling price increased slightly for the first time in five years ... It is a very rare event in our industry, but customers are still happy, "trusts JT Wang, chairman of Acer, during a meeting of shareholders. According to him, Acer has adjusted its pricing and product mix for two months, but "did not cause any damage to final demand. It is still very strong. "

This application, back last summer, is good news for manufacturers of personal computers, like HP, Acer or Dell, but they face strong pressure of manufacturing costs, up from several types components. A slowdown in investment in suppliers during the economic and financial crisis has led to product shortages that push up prices on some Comptos like DRAM chips.

Other recent events are pushing up prices, particularly in Asian shops, where many of these components are assembled. The recent cases related to working conditions at Foxconn or others, also put prices under pressure, as the volatility of the euro, which is driving manufacturers to take steps to mitigate risks related to currency. Wang said all along that these challenges were not covered for all of the extraordinary. "These conditions have not been changed during the last ten years. The industry is very competitive, stimulated by many actors, but we can remain competitive. "

The price of components should achieve stability during the second half of 2010, and work-related costs represent only "a small percentage of the price of a netbook," said JT Wang. "In any case, it does not really affect us because if we buy at high prices, we sell at high prices." Acer expects an increase of 15% of its sales in the third quarter from the second, revising and its forecasts upward (10% previously). The manufacturer has benefited from the crisis better than its competitors, even taking advantage of the slump to wrest second place behind Dell HP. "We have responded more quickly than our competitors," Wang hammers. "When the application is returned at once to the second quarter, we were one of the few to raise our game well because we were prepared for very early."