How badly did Gianfranco Lanci, Acer’s outgoing chief executive, misread the impact that tablets and smartphones would have on the global PC industry?
One painfully obvious answer is: bad enough to have lost his job. Mr Lanci on Thursday resigned with immediate effect from Asia’s biggest PC maker by sales after delivering two straight quarters of disappointing results that left the company struggling to retain its place as the world’s second biggest PC company.
JT Wang, Acer’s chairman who will now take over as chief executive, made it clear that Mr Lanci’s departure marks a break with the past for the Taiwanese company and a shift away from a strategy that, until recently, helped Acer consistently gain market share in a highly competitive industry.