Acer cuts tablet shipments by almost 60 percent for 2011

By Jeffrey Van Camp June 15, 2011

Acer Iconia Tab A500

The Iconia Tab A500 is one of the best Android tablets on the market, but it isn’t meeting sales expectations. According to Reuters, Acer has cut its shipment targets by nearly 60 percent for 2011, from 5-7 million units to 2.5-3 million units. The manufacturer expects to sell about 800,000 tablets in the second and third quarters of the year. This news follows a 29.2 percent drop in sales last month.

“The third quarter will be considerably more stable,” Chairman J.T. Wang explained during a shareholder meeting. “It will be similar to the second quarter or better. The fourth quarter will be even better.”

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 is one of the most affordable 10.1-inch tablets on the market, offering comparable stats to any tablet with a lean $450 price–cheaper than all competitors we know of. Still, it doesn’t seem to be enough to compete with Apple, which has a lock on the touch tablet market it created with the iPad.

Investors aren’t too happy either. Shares in Acer have dropped 30 percent since late March, when the company cut its first quarter revenue outlook and ousted its CEO, Gianfranco Lanci.

Acer is expected to debut a smaller 7-inch Iconia Tab soon.

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