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OZ To Get “Seriously Good” Super Fast LG G2 Smartphone In October

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Australian smartphone fans are set to get what several reviewers have called a “seriously good” smartphone with the release in October of the all new LG G2.

Carriers have confirmed to SmartHouse that the device which has been described as “significantly superior” to the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One will go on sale in the third week of October. 

The device comes with Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean); 5.2″ Full HD IPS LCD display with zero gap touchscreen, (1080 x 1920) pixels; light weight: 143g; dimensions (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9) mm; 13 MP camera, autofocus with optical image stabilization (OIS).
Equipped with an expansive 1080p display and 13-megapixel camera. CNet said LG’s placement of the G2’s power and volume buttons..doesn’t ruin the experience. Indeed, with its beastly specs and ultrafast processor, LG is definitely putting its gloves on for this smartphone battle.

Digital Trends said” with the G2, LG is stepping up to the plate. This is a powerful phone with a myriad of simple, but useful new features. Audiophiles and spec junkies should flock to it”.

“The first time you set eyes on the LG G2, you’re impressed. It looks like “the” smartphone we’ve been working toward for a few years now. The screen is nearly edge-to-edge, the device is dead thin at 8.9mm, and there isn’t a button in sight. From the front, there are no buttons on the G2. The navigation buttons – Back, Home, Menu – are onscreen and the power and volume controls are . not there. But you don’t really need them most of the time. A quick double tap on the screen will wake the G2 up from its slumber.

An LG Australia executive said “A number of publications have praised the new G2 we will have it on sale in Australia in mid-October”.

New Microsoft Smartphones Set To Struggle As Consumers + B2B Dump Windows + Microsoft

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Microsoft Australia who will shortly compete head on with carriers in Australia when they open their first store in Sydney is set to launch a new range of smartphones tomorrow.

But don’t bank on their latest models being a success as consumers turn off their Windows OS machines for Macs and tens of thousands take up Google Docs and Android based smartphones.

At a media event tomorrow in New York, Microsoft plans to announce at least two high-end Lumia smartphones powered by Windows 10 software.

After five years of failing to get traction in the smartphone market and after losing billions buying up struggling smartphone Company Nokia, Microsoft no longer is gunning for the mass market, but grabbing for niches such as businesses, where the company hopes its smartphones will have a competitive advantage.

They are betting on business moving to Office 365 which is why the Company is spruiking collaboration tools. 

What Microsoft is set to pitch is that if you buy the Windows eco system and a Windows smartphone your personal computers and mobile devices will operate in a seamless system.

What they fail to tell consumers is that they won’t have access to tens of thousands of apps now available for Android and Apple OS smartphones. 

They claim that Windows users who crunch Excel spreadsheets or make Skype calls on their PCs, the thinking goes, will find it compelling to have the same experience on their mobile devices.

This is despite the fact that users of an Android smartphone can already do this with an array of Android devices. 


The Wall Street Journal said that Microsoft’s decision to narrow its focus reflects hard facts: Windows smartphones have sold poorly and bled money. Two years ago, when Microsoft plunged into the smartphone-handset business with an agreement to buy Nokia’s mobile-phone operation, Microsoft said it would own a 15% smartphone market share by 2018. 

The company has dropped that ambition. This year, about three out of every 100 smartphones sold will run Windows, research firm IDC estimates. Apple iPhones and smartphones powered by Android software together comprise the other 97%.

Microsoft’s phone operation lost 12 cents for each smartphone sold in the three months ended June 30, on average.

In July, Microsoft effectively conceded failure by wiping away about 80% of the value of the $9.4 billion Nokia deal and announcing plans to cut nearly 8,000 workers, mostly in its mobile-phone operation.

Microsoft Sydney Store Set To Struggle As Millions Pour Into Apple Stores

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Microsoft has moved to compete head on with JB Hi Fi, Harvey Norman and Officeworks by opening their own store in the heart of Sydney today, other stores are planned in Australia.

They have also moved to outsell their long time PC partners by offering Microsoft branded products ahead of their partner’s products in their new store. 

The only problem is that Microsoft, who is desperately trying to copy Apple has neither the brand pulling power or the credibility that Apple has managed to build since their first shop was opened back in November 2004. 

While consumer pack Apple stores out day after day Microsoft has already resorted to rent a crowd as part of a PR program orchestrated by their PR Company. 

The move to opening their own store in Sydney follows the opening of a new store recently in 5th Avenue New York 

It’s already been noticed that consumers are more interested in Minecraft figurines than Microsoft or Windows promotion material. 

Microsoft acquired the Minecraft franchise last year.

Located close to the highly popular Apple store in George Street which according to Telstra executives whose head office is right across the road, is “always packed day and night” the Microsoft store is set to struggle compared to the Apple store due to the lack of Microsoft products with pulling power. 

An Apple executive said “I know if it came down to the pulling power of a new iPhone Vs a Windows phone who would win when it comes to attracting eyeballs”. 

Microsoft Australia managing director Pip Marlow told the AFR that she likes her location: it gets 50,000 people walking by every day, which, she suggests without actually saying it, is more than the Apple store gets.

When this was put to an Apple Australia store manager they said “It’s not about who walks past your store it’s who walks into your store and buys an actual product”. 

Apple said that as of July, 14 million people had walked into the store since its 2008 opening.

The new Microsoft store has been described as an “expensive Microsoft” billboard that will struggle to get consumers into their stores because the lack of appeal that Windows, and Windows smartphones have in the market. 

Microsoft is also facing falling demand for their Xbox with the Sony PS4 outselling the Microsoft offering. 

In Europe Sony has over 65% of the console gaming market. 

 “We don’t think of it as an expensive billboard. This is really about inviting people in so they can see and touch our products. If they don’t want to buy products then they can still be leveraging our services,” says Travis Walter, general manager of international retail stores for Microsoft.


Customers will even be able to buy Dell PCs in the store after Dell agreed to cross sell Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 to their customers.

Fibre Uptake Key To Telstra NBN Payments

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Telstra will only be paid for access to their current copper network, when consumers choose to switch to the new NBN Co fibre network Telstra CEO David Thodey has revealed.

In a conference call today Thodey said that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission are set to play a key role in deciding the final deal between Telstra and the NBN Co and he has not ruled out the ACCC taking a look at their pitch to become a major media Company while retaining their 50% share of Foxtel.
Thodey said that the future for Telstra is new products and revenue streams. However a “significant amount of work must still be done on many complex issues.” He said.
“While this is an important step, a very significant amount of work must still be done on many complex issues, including migration processes, taxation, the future of legacy regulations applying to Telstra and consequences of any major changes to the NBN rollout schedule,” Mr Thodey said.
Outside of the NBN deal Telstra and their shareholders could benefit from tax benefits arising from the deal and the sale of the physical copper in their network as it becomes redundant. 
The $11 billion agreement was announced in Canberra on Sunday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Mr Thodey, which will see NBN Co reuse existing suitable Telstra infrastructure, including pits, ducts and backhaul fibre, in the roll-out of its program, avoiding the creation of a duplicate network.
A big benefit to Telstra, say analysts is that all operators will have access to the same broadband speeds with product and pricing set to be the big differentiator. 
Telstra said that the agreement will reduce the overall cost of building the NBN and will see a greater proportion of the network placed underground, as opposed to overhead cabling.
Another big advantage for Telstra is that they will be able to expand their existing Next G wireless network which is currently the fastest in Australia while being able to bid for new spectrum.

 
The federal government had originally threatened to restrict the Telco’s access to crucial radio spectrum if it failed to structurally separate its wholesale and retail arms.
Mr Thodey said that Telstra expects to put the transaction to a shareholder vote in the first half of calendar 2011, once all necessary regulatory approvals are received and a final agreement is reached with the government.
See: Telstra Set To Be a Major Media Company

Now Gerry Harvey Wants A Crack At Buying The Good Guys

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Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey, has thrown a wobbly into the battle for control of The Good Guys, claiming that if he gets the green light from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission he will join the bidding to buy the mass retailer.

The only problem is that the combining of the Harvey Norman and The Good Guys appliance business would give Harvey Norman over 75% share of the brand appliance business in Australia, a situation that most analysts claim would not be acceptable to the ACCC.

Late today Gerry Harvey tried to claim that if JB Hi Fi was allowed to have a crack at acquiring The Good Guys so should he.

He said that at this stage he was assuming that it would be “impossible” for Harvey Norman to buy The Good Guys, “but if there is an argument they (JB Hi-Fi) could buy it, then equally there is as good an argument that we could buy it,” Mr Harvey said.

“I would seriously look at it if I could get clearance from the ACCC.” He told Fairfax Media.

Mr Harvey said a combined Good Guys-JB Hi-Fi operation would have a larger combined market share than Harvey Norman in certain retail categories, trading through a network of about 300 stores.

Harvey Norman has a network of about 194 franchised stores in Australia and Mr Harvey said he would likely retain the Good Guys brand if he could acquire it.

The problem for Gerry Harvey is that the issue is not about how many stores one has but the size of the stores that are up for sale.

It’s also about dominance in the appliance market and being able to manipulate the buying price a process that Harvey Norman likes to control.

Mr Harvey said he would be prepared to pay up to about $900 million for The Good Guys, which is believed to be the price tag on the chain and would likely re-franchise it – a move that could be attractive to The Good Guys founders and part-owners, the Muir family.

One analysts that ChannelNews spoke to said that what Gerry Harvey is trying to do is “jack up “the value of the business a process that could hurt JB Hi Fi.

“He knows that a combined JB Hi Fi Harvey Norman deal would have an impact on his business”.

Fairfax Media claimed that 56 Good Guys retailers, operating under joint venture agreements, are battling to secure a more generous package for handing back the keys to the operation’s corporate headquarters.

The Good Guys chairman Andrew Muir announced plans to buy out the joint-venture partners last October but the group would not comment on the progress of this process on Thursday, except to say it was “on track” to meet its mid year deadline to move to a “fully-corporatised business model”.

By the close of the market at 2.00pm today JB Hi-Fi’s share price had surged close to 5 per cent then fell back to 3% at the close of the market.

Growth through acquisition is the only pathway for JB Hi-Fi, according to one retailer, who said greater exposure to the whitegoods market would safeguard the operation from the digitisation of sectors like music, movies and technology.
“This is a sign of JB Hi-Fi’s maturity that is has to get growth through acquisition,” an analyst said.

“I think this is a good move, but it will come down to execution because any acquisition is always full of risk.”

Vendors Hurting Ingram Micro As Retailers Buy Direct

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Major vendors are bypassing billion dollar distributor Ingram Micro to go direct to mass retailers this has forced the Company to slash costs, retrench people and offer extended credit to key retailers in an effort to retain a relationship say several industry insiders. It has also forced them to consider a new service revenue model.


In recent weeks the Company who are the largest distributor of technology products in Australia has undertaken extensive restructuring surgery in a move that one analyst has described as “worrying”.


And while local management has refused to comment on their problems their global Chief executive Greg Spierkel has confirmed that mass “box shifters” like Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and the likes of Officeworks are buying their mainstream branded products direct from vendors. This he says has resulted in the Company refocusing their business on mid tier resellers where he says the Company is making more money.


“In recent years mass retailers or the box shifters have invested in distribution systems that allow them to deal directly with vendors and distribute products across their networks. This has impacted us in some Countries like Germany the UK and Australia”. 


He has also confirmed that several of the mass retailers that are still dealing with them are now demanding extended credit terms. “Our normal terms are thirty days however we are renegotiating some 45 days. The retailers would prefer 60 days but we are not going to go there”.


He added “There are changes taking place in the distributor channel and yes we have lost some of the major brands because they are supplying direct to the mass bricks and mortar retailers however this is not necessarily a bad thing as the margins were always low. We are now focusing on a new breed of mid tier resellers who understand that one of the key components that the mass resellers don’t want to deliver is service and support.”

 

“n the US some of these resellers are seeing their business models change from being predominantly hardware driven to being service and support driven” he said.


He has also said that Ingram Micro Australia may launch a brand new service where the distributor sets up a 24/7 remote access service division that resellers can on-sell to their customers.


“We are currently rolling out in the US a model whereby we value add the service proposition that a reseller can deliver without them having to invest in expensive tools. This will allow them offer ongoing support and a 24 hour hotline”. Said Spierkel.


In Australia things are not tracking well for Ingram Micro with one senior executive at one of the biggest notebook Companies claiming  “Ingram Micro has become irrelevant as vendors are dealing and supplying direct to the mass retailers including the likes of Harvey Norman, Officeworks, JB Hi Fi and Woolworths owned stores such as Dick Smith and Powerhouse”.


They added “They have lost their way and are no longer delivering  a value proposition for resellers or the vendors whose products they are selling. Many of the most popular brands are dealing direct with the mass retailers and this is a win, win, situation for both the retailer and the vendor as both make more money”.


Attempts by ChannelNews to discuss this issue and the problems facing the mass distributor locally have been met by a wall of silence. Calls to Ingram A/NZ vice-president, Jay Miley have not been returned and shortly after making a call earlier today we got a call from a New Zealand PR Company who admitted that 24hours earlier they had been appointed to manage the PR for Ingram Micro.

 

 


When asked why Ingram Micro Australia was resorting to the use of a New Zealand PR Company they said that they had been put into place to facilitate media inquiries. When asked why Miley was incapable of picking up a phone and returning calls they said “That’s what we are here for. We want to facilitate media interviews”.


Earlier this week Ingram Micro closed their ACT and Adelaide offices this follows the axing of the Companies Australian 
Ingram Micro also announced several redundancies last month after they moved their credit control department to Asia. They have also been forced to cut up to 7% of their workforce across account management, sales and technical roles. The General Manager of Solutions Group, Stuart Ellis, was also retrenched.


A senior executive in the Company said “Things are not looking good. I would lose my job if they could identify who it was that spoken to the media. Revenues are down significantly for example in February when retailers were reporting significant sales of consumer electronic sales at Ingram Micro were down over 45% because we have massive exposure to the enterprise and SMB market that has stopped spending.

Another problem is that the other half of the SMB market is now buying direct from the likes of Officeworks, Harvey Norman or other mass retailers who are selling products like notebooks and mobile phones and attach devices which are supplied direct by vendors who have an operation in Australia. Where are picking up business is from vendors who are cutting back their presence in Australia and want Ingram Micro to still distribute their products. We are also getting the business “.  

3 Display Monitors Are Better Than One Say Experts

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Are you looking to be more productive? How about three PC screens instead of one. New research shows that when three screens are linked together productivity increases by up to 35% over someone using a 19″ LCD flat screen monitor.

Are you looking to be more productive? How about three PC screens instead of one. New research shows that when three screens are linked together productivity increases by up to 35% over someone using a 19″ LCD flat screen monitor.

According to Fujitsu and the Fraunhofer IAO laboratory one group of testers who had a 22-inch widescreen monitor, increased their productivity over the single 19-inch group by 8.4-percent. 

According to the researchers says Slashgear.com employees can perform a typical knowledge-sector job much more efficiently at a three-display workplace than at a conventional one.

 This is particularly relevant for jobs where digital information has to be frequently processed as is the case with scientists, editors, engineers or insurance company employees. Overall, the study showed that larger screen areas increase productivity – and with the 3-display workplace all interconnected to form one desktop, Fraunhofer IAO scientists recorded increased productivity of 35.5 percent.

New Microsoft Service Pack Nobbles Word

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An automatic Microsoft upgrade that has crashed popular word proccesing package Word which is part of Microsoft’s Office 2007 offering has been pumped to millions of computers.

Overnight Microsoft has pumped 11 upgrades for Vista and Office to millions of computers and on two seperate computers both at home and in my office the upgrade has nobbled both Word and my default email package. MIcrosoft say that they are investigating the issues.


Click to enlarge

Among the patches distributed by Microsoft overnight were Microsoft Office Service Pack 1, Security updates for Microsoft Windows,Microsoft Outlook updates and security updates for CAPICOM.

Among the problems we experienced one was unable to scroll pages up or down, right click a mouse or paste copy to a page. When one goes to closean affected page an error message pops up saying that Word has “Stopped Working”.

The latest Microsoft security bulletin says that of the 11 upgrades six of are deemed “critical”  while five are deemed “important.” One bulletin, suggested that a majority of the “critical” patches affect Microsoft Office, two critical patches include users of Office for Mac 2004, one affects Visual Basic 6.

 

Microsoft say that the “important” patches are mostly Internet services-related. One patch is specific to the Windows Vista update, however, all the Windows Vista-related updates will be included with Windows Vista SP1, expected to roll out to consumers in mid-to-late March.

Tim Rains, security response communications lead for Microsoft, humorously noted that “Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 are not affected by any of today’s bulletins.” They’re not affected because they are not yet available to the public. All Microsoft security patches for both Windows and Office software are available via Microsoft Update or via the individual bulletins detailed below.

MS08-003: Important

Titled “Vulnerability in Active Directory Could Allow Denial of Service (946538),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows 2000, XP SP2, Server 2003, but does not affect Windows Vista. A vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0088 exists in implementations of Active Directory on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 and Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM). Microsoft says “attacker must have valid log-on credentials to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could cause the system to stop responding or automatically restart.”

MS08-004: Important

Titled “Vulnerability in Windows TCP/IP Could Allow Denial of Service (946456),” this bulletin only affects users of Windows Vista. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0084 that exists in Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) processing. Microsoft says “an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could cause the affected system to stop responding and automatically restart.”

 

MS08-005: Important

Titled “Vulnerability in Internet Information Services Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (942831),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows 2000, XP SP2, Server 2003, and Vista. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0074 that exists in Internet Information Services (IIS). Microsoft says “a local attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.”

MS08-006: Important

Titled “Vulnerability in Internet Information Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (942830),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and Server 2003, but not Windows 2000 or Vista. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0075 that exists in the way that IIS handles input to ASP Web pages. Microsoft says “An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could then perform actions on the IIS server with the same rights as the Worker Process Identity (WPI). The WPI is configured with Network Service account privileges by default. IIS servers with ASP pages whose application pools are configured with a WPI that uses an account with administrative privileges could be more seriously impacted than IIS servers whose application pool is configured with the default WPI settings.”

MS08-007: Critical

Titled “Vulnerability in WebDAV Mini-Redirector Could Allow Remote Code Execution (946026),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Server 2003, and Vista, but not Windows 2000. This update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0080 in the WebDAV Mini-Redirector. Microsoft says “an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.”

MS08-008: Critical

Titled “Vulnerability in OLE Automation Could Allow Remote Code Execution (947890),” this bulletin affects users of all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, and Visual Basic 6. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2007-0065. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow remote code execution through attacks on Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) Automation if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page.

MS08-009: Critical

Titled “Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution (947077),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Word 2000 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 3, Microsoft Word 2002 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2, Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003, but does not affect Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Word Viewer 2003 Service Pack 3, 2007 Microsoft Office System, 2007 Microsoft Office System Service Pack 1, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. The update addresses the vulnerability detailed in CVE-2008-0109 and could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Word file. Microsoft says “An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.”

MS08-010: Critical

Titled “Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (944533),” this bulletin affects users of Microsoft Windows 2000, XP SP2, Server 2003, but not Windows Vista. The update addresses the vulnerabilities detailed in CVE-2008-0076, CVE-2008-0077, CVE-2008-0078, and CVE-2007-4790. Microsoft says “the most serious of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user viewed a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.”

 

Google Jumping Telegraph + Herald Sun Paywall To Deliver Content For Free

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Readers who from today have to pay to access to content on News Ltd.’s Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun web site are now using Google search to circumvent the subscription block twitter feeds reveal.

Several Twitter feeds reveal that readers are being urged to ‘click on the blocked Daily Telegraph or Sun Herald story, highlight the headline and then place it into a Google search’.

This allows readers to access the content without having to pay readers claim.

Currently News Ltd is offering a tiered subscription model ranging from $4 a week to $10 a week.

Last week News Ltd moved to capture data by requesting visitors to their log into access Daily Telegraph content for free. This week after capturing thousands of reader’s personal details, the Daily Telegraph is asking visitors who gave up their email address and name to pay for access to content.

The new digital subscriber strategy which is called News will be extended to AdelaideNow and The Courier Mail in June.

News Limited CEO Kim Williams said “Our new digital subscription service for the Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph marks an important landmark for News Limited as we continue paving the way for commercially sustainable models for quality journalism and digital innovation in Australia,”.

The Company said that they will offer integrated content from Fox Sports as well as enhanced online local coverage.

“For the first time, we will see an integration of high-quality Fox Sports broadcast reporting, analysis and commentary across News’ online network giving our masthead subscribers access to fine content as part of the news+ product,” he said.

“We will continually enhance the value of our digital subscription product and over time we will also integrate our online lifestyle and business content offerings within the mastheads” he added.

A test by SmartHouse reveals that most of the locked stories can be accessed by doing a Google search of the headline inside the story.

In an effort to try and circumvent the Google search engine News Ltd is placing a headline on the master story and a second headline inside the clicked story.

Readers responded online by writing the following comments:

Integration with Fox Sports hey.. so why would I pay to view their articles via the daily telegraph site when I can just jump over to fox sports and get it for free?

I have been searching for the “quality journalism” in the Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph for many years now. When I find it then I will subscribe to online editions. In the meantime a free hard copy courtesy of the local cafe which can be read in the time it takes to have a coffee will do me.

Why do they think people will pay for stale news? Both News Ltd and Fairfax re-cycle stuff from around the web, often 2/3 days later and seem to think we won’t notice.

If they were engaging in legitimate investigations they may have support but expecting subscribers to stump up for cold potatoes is arrogance.

EXCLUSIVE: Mass Sackings At Acer OZ After Company Stops Manufacturing

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Acer Australia who are reeling from a 38% slump in sales and over $5M in losses have started mass sacking staff after a decision was made to stop local production of PC’s. The Company is also tipped to be withdrawing from the commercial and enterprise markets.

According to sources several staff were told yesterday that they were terminated and had to leave the Acer Australia premises “immediately”, the mass sackings are all part of a plan to concentrate on retail sales of PC’s.

Senior executives have said that senior management are engaging in a “blame game”.

One senior manager said “Discontentment and in-fighting is rife between the directors and at all levels of senior management, with each division pointing its finger at the other for the current state of affairs”. 

Acer Australia will cease production of PC’s for schools, corporations and governments next week with future products fully imported.

The future of Charles Chung the long time CEO of Acer Australia is now being questioned with several executives blaming management aligned with Chung for the problems Acer Australia is facing.

In the past several senior managers including former general manager Nigel Gore and former business development manager Robin Tang have left the Company after falling out of favour with the current management team.

A current serving executive said that the new round of cuts “will significantly impact Acers about to continue in the commercial desktop and notebook markets. They claim that the decision to retrench staff and stop local production is all part of Charles Chung’s directive to shift Acer Computer Australia to a retail only operation. 

They claim that Acer is beginning a gradual withdrawal of PCS from the commercial and enterprise markets.

“The intent is to wind down all field service operations and move to a return to base warranty model across the board” the executive said.

Global shipments of personal computers slumped 10.9 per cent in the second quarter, the longest decline in the industry’s history, as the market continues to be devastated by the popularity of tablets, research firm Gartner said recently.

Acer Australia who has suffered more than most saw their sales slide 38% last year with insiders claiming that the sales slide has continued into 2013 resulting in the decision to restructure the market.

Last year the Company set up two kiosks right opposite their retail partners, a visit to these kiosks by SmartHouse staff revealed that the Company was offering incentives to buy direct from the Companies own online store.

A visit to the Harvey Norman web site reveals that Acer is one of the few PC vendors whose products are not listed among the brands that Harvey Norman sell. Acer management claim that they have not been “dumped” as a supplier to the mass retailer.

Acer management have not returned our calls or offered any statement to the media on the Companies future direction.