Gianfranco Lanci, chief executive officer and the president of Acer Group, on Thursday resigned from the company. J.T. Wang, the chairman of Acer, takes acting role in the interim. The world's third largest supplier of personal computers (PCs) said that the board of directors of the company and the executive had major disagreements over the future of Acer. In addition, Acer's market share and sales recently started to decline.

"The personal computer remains the core of our business. 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," said J.T. Wang, the chairman of Acer.

According to the PC maker, Mr. Lanci held different views from a majority of the board members on the company’s future development. The executive and the board could not reach a consensus following several months’ of dialog. They placed different levels of importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation. The nature of disagreements was not revealed. The company has commenced with the planning of organizational and operational adjustments for the sustainable future of Acer.

“In this new ICT industry. Acer needs a period of time for adjustment. With the spirit of entrepreneurship, we will face new challenges and look to the future with confidence," added Mr. Wang.

In Q4 2010 Acer Group shipped 9.775 million of personal computers and commanded 10.6% of the global market share, which is a 15% decline from 11.505 million units and 12.8% share in Q4 2009, according to IDC. After a strong run through 2009, the vendor was affected by lackluster sales of netbook  PCs and slowing consumer demand across many markets, according to the market tracking firm.

The resignation was approved at a meeting of Acer’s board of directors today, and the company has communicated internally with its worldwide employees.

The change of the CEO does not affect current operations which are functioning as normal, the company indicated. Acer’s management team of multi-nationals has been well-informed and is committed to overseeing and implementing the company strategies, as does the amicable company relations with industry partners persist. Acer will continue to push for globalization, follow its multi-brand and channel business model, develop competitive products and services, and foster closer relations with key vendors and channel partners.

Separately, Acer announced the appointment of Acer deputy president of Acer EMEA, Walter Deppeler as the new Acer EMEA president.

Tags: Acer, Business