Acer, benefiting from Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) uncertainty about its PC business, has started receiving strong notebook orders from channels in Europe with volumes, as of September 20, already surpassing three million units and rising, according to sources from retail channels.
The company's upstream partners all recently received strong short-term orders from Acer, but since most of the ODMs only keep about 10 days of component inventory, supply volumes are expected to fall behind Acer's demand soon.
The sources pointed out that after HP announced plans to spin off its PC department, numerous rumors have spread around the IT market, causing downstream channel retailers to turn to players such as Acer and Asustek Computer.
Since Europe has always been Acer's major market, HP's attitude is starting to damage its share in Europe's PC market which could benefit Acer, Asustek and Lenovo.
Sources from notebook makers also noted that they originally thought Acer's short-term orders may be temporary, but volumes have been rising rapidly, especially in September, during which volumes for the month have already reached better-than-expected levels. In addition to traditional notebooks, Acer's netbook shipments are also rising.
As for October, the sources believe order volumes will continue rising benefiting Acer's upstream partners.
Meanwhile, Acer's orders from China and Southeast Asia have also been on the rise in September, indicating that China's holiday season in October is also driving sales for the company.
Acer is set to invest in countries in Latin America such as Brazil starting in the fourth quarter.
Commenting on the reports, Acer only said that its personnel issues are already settled, while inventory has been lowered, and the company is heading in a healthy business direction.
Acer president Jim Wong previously pointed out that Acer's notebook inventory, after digestion in the second quarter, had already dropped to eight weeks for the EMEA and US markets, while Asia markets had even dropped to only 5-6 weeks.