Acer boss quits after board disses his future strategy

Gianfranco Lanci walks

Acer CEO and president Gianfranco Lanci has quit the computer maker, after boardroom wrangles over the company's future left him high and dry.

His resignation is with immediate effect, said Acer in a statement to The Register this morning.

The company's chairman, JT Wang, will take the CEO chair in the interim, while Acer undergoes a major rejig of its business.

"The resignation was approved at a meeting of Acer's Board of Directors today, and the company has communicated internally with its worldwide employees," said an Acer spokesman. "On the company's future development, Lanci held different views from a majority of the board members, and could not reach a consensus following several months' of dialogue.

"They placed different levels of importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation."

The company was keen to stress that it would retain its channel biz model and said Lanci's exit had no affect on Acer's current operations.

"The personal computer remains the core of our business," said Wang.

"We have built up a strong foundation and will continue to expand within, especially in the commercial PC segment. In addition, we are stepping into the new mobile device market, where we will invest cautiously and aim to become one of the leading players."

However, it is unclear if any search is yet underway for a replacement CEO at the computer vendor.

Acer's spokesman told El Reg that no further statement would be made regarding the management rejig.

As part of the company's top management restructure, Acer said it had handed Walter Deppeler the keys to the Europe, Middle East and Africa president door. Lanci had previously served as Acer's EMEA president alongside his CEO and worldwide president roles.

Deppeler's new job is an internal promotion. He previously worked as Acer's senior corporate veep and as deputy president of its EMEA division. ®