Acer chief executive Gianfranco Lanci has resigned, following disagreements with the board over the future direction of the world's third-largest computer maker, which recently reported a dim outlook on PC revenue. The Taiwanese company said Thursday that Lanci's resignation was effective immediately, and board chairman J.T. Wang would be acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found.
Lanci left the company less than a week after Acer reported that first-quarter PC revenue would fall short of expectations, due to weak sales in Western Europe and the United States. The company said revenue was about 10 percent less than in the fourth quarter of last year.
In addition, Acer said PC shipments in the second quarter would be flat over the first quarter.
The weak outlook sent Acer stock plummeting, with the company losing more than $1 billion in market value in four days, the Reuters news agency reported.
Acer said Lanci and a majority of the board held different views on the company's future, and the parties could not agree, despite several months of discussion. "They placed different levels of importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation," the company said of the discussions.
Going forward, the PC would remain the core of Acer's business and the company would continue expanding its commercial computer business, Wang said in a statement. "In addition, we are stepping into the new mobile device market, where we will invest cautiously and aim to become one of the leading players."
