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Acer lost £450 million on cancelled IBM contract
Aptiva phase out blamed
Acer lost NT$20 billion (£450 million) in sales this year because IBM cancelled a contract for its Aptiva desktop PCs.
Taiwan's largest computer manufacturer claims that losing the contract wiped NT$18 billion (£403 million) off its sales for the first half of the year and a further NT$2 billion in the second half.
IBM is phasing out the Aptiva range and is only selling the line through its Web site. Acer has picked up a Dell notebook contract to make up for losing the IBM gig.
Bloomberg quotes Acer president Simon Lin as saying: "IBM only told us at the end of last year about the change it in its desktop strategy, so that created a big hole in our sales." ®
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