Thai floods prompt Acer to hike laptop prices

Citing the effect of the floods on its hard-drive supply chain in Thailand, computer maker Acer Inc. plans to raise its laptop prices for mid-November. Acer Chairman J.T. Wang told an investor conference Friday the price adjustment may range in the hundreds of Taiwan dollars, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported. "We will appropriately reflect a hike in HDD prices on laptops ... The range will be in the hundreds of Taiwan dollars, depending on different product categories," CNA quoted him as saying. But Wang noted that the 7-mm-high HDD used in the Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook is not made in Thailand, so the recently launched product will not face shortages. The company expected its sourcing of hard disk drives to be hurt by Thailand's floods but could not assess by how much until the floods recede. Acer has been working very closely with suppliers to secure a proper supply of the component. "We can still get a certain amount of HDDs, and we will use them on some products with higher profit margins," Wang said. The CNA report cited figures from research firm IHS iSuppli indicating Thailand produces roughly a quarter of the world's hard disk drives. It said another researcher, IDC, estimated the flooding in Thailand will affect about one-third of the country's annual production of 120 million hard disk drives. Acer plans to ship 250,000 to 300,000 units of the S3 super-thin laptops in the fourth quarter. It expects the Ultrabook line to account for 25 to 35 percent of its total notebook shipments in 2012. Currently Acer's S3 is priced at over US$1,000, higher than those of regular notebooks. The company expects the prices of Ultrabooks to fall to US$799 to 899 in 2012 once it gains popularity with consumers. — TJD, GMA News