Acer slashes 2011 tablet shipment forecast in half

Firm expects just three million shipments as woes continue

Acer has halved its yearly tablet shipment target from between five and seven million units to three million as the manufacturer braces for a tough 2011.

Acer chairman JT Wang told Reuters of the decrease after a shareholder meeting on Wednesday, adding that the company expects to sell 800,000 tablets in each of the second and third quarters of the year.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, told V3.co.uk that she was unsurprised by the revised forecast, and that Acer will not be the only manufacturer to reassess targets.

"We are seeing many vendors lowering volumes and production targets for the year. It seems the Android ecosystem and the comparatively high prices of the hardware are leaving Apple competitors with a tough battle to fight," she said.

"Acer's seven million projection for the year was a very aggressive target and unlikely to be realised unless the firm was planning to drop prices considerably."

Acer recently released the Iconia Tab W500 Windows 7 hybrid and the Android Honeycomb-based A500 as part of an aggressive push into the growing tablet market.

The Wi-Fi-only W500 currently retails for £585 on Amazon, and the A500 is priced at £399, the same as the entry-level Wi-Fi-only iPad 2.

The adjusted forecast is the latest in a string of setbacks for Acer, including the loss of 300 jobs in Europe and a bill of $150m to help distributors clear a backlog of inventory.

Acer's European security systems were breached earlier this month, and over 40,000 customers had their data stolen by a group calling itself the Pakistan Cyber Army.

Acer chief executive Gianfranco Lanci resigned in March after disagreements with the board over the firm's ongoing strategy.