Acer’s CEO and President has resigned, effective immediately, the company said in a statement today. According to the press release, CEO Gianfranco Lanci was in a several month stalemate with the Acer board of directors over the direction of the company and brand. Chairman J.T. Wang will fill in for him until a proper successor is named.
Though Lanci was once the savior of Acer, joining the company in 1997 and being named president in 2005 and CEO in 2008 after helping to establish Acer in Europe. In recent years, the company has been competing with Dell as the second top-selling PC manufacturer. Times have been tough for PCs as of late, however. The rise of netbooks was good for Acer, but their death at the hands of the iPad has caused Acer’s PC sales to go from a 3 percent increase last year to a 10 percent loss this year.
Acer claims the change will not affect operations and asserts that the PC is still the core of its business. “The personal computer remains the core of our business,” says J.T. Wang. “We have built up a strong foundation and will continue to expand within, especially in the commercial PC segment. 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.”
Acer is set to release its Iconia Tab A501, an Android-based tablet, on AT&T in April. The company also unveiled a massive 4.8-inch Android smartphone, the Iconia Smart, in February. A dual-screened laptop is also coming.
