Acer announced a major reorganisation of its business, effectively splitting the company into two divisions, for mobile devices and PCs. The move comes as the company issued another sales warning, saying it expects its PC shipments in the second quarter to fall by around 10 percent from the previous quarter. This follows a 10 percent sequential decline already in Q1. The company attributed the decline to the recent company reorganization, inventory adjustments and the seasonal slowdown of the PC industry. Acer still expects an operating margin similar to the Q1 level. The company also announced further changes to its management. Jim Wong was named the new Corporate President, with immediate effect. He was previously corporate senior vice president and president of the IT Products Group. He will work with chairman and CEO J.T. Wang to lead the company, as well as head the new Touch Business Group, which includes the smartphone and tablet activities. The reorganisation will see the company's IT Products Group split into two units: the Touch BG and the PC Global Operations. Campbell Kan, former VP of the smart handheld business unit, will lead PCGO. Simon Hwang, president of Eten Information Systems, was named deputy president of Touch BG. Acer said mobile devices represent its "growth engine" for the future and thus require a separate organisation and resources. In the PC market, Acer will focus on optimising its multi-brand strategy in the PC market, with a clear differentiation of the brands' positioning. Acer also created three new group functions: Walter Deppeler, recently appointed senior corporate VP and EMEA president, will take up the position of chief marketing officer; Tiffany Huang, AVP of supply chain operations will oversee the new Operation Analysis Office, for studying and analyzing company business models and financial affairs; and former VP of quality and service Jackson Lin, former CTO of products development R.C. Chang and former VP of technology center Arif Maskatia will jointly lead the new Chief Technology Office.
