Word: quarters
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Selling computers is a tough business at the best of times. These are the worst of times - global computer sales slumped nearly 7% in the first quarter of 2009. But PC maker Acer has bucked the trend. According to research firm IDC, Acer's PC shipments rose 10% in the first quarter of 2009 from the same period a year earlier, lifting Acer's global market share to 11.9%, up from 10.1% the year before. In notebook computers - Acer's speciality - the company claimed 17% of the world market in the first quarter, enough to make it the world...
...spend nowadays, has been pushing low-cost computers including netbooks, shrunken portable PCs costing just a few hundred dollars. Wang says that computers priced under $500 are taking a larger share of overall sales; according to IDC, the average selling price of an Acer machine in the first quarter dropped to $611 from $855 a year earlier. "People can't go on living without PCs," Wang says, "but in difficult times, they would like to spend less and still get a good...
...Acer's lowball strategy is not without trade-offs. Despite market-share gains, revenues in the first quarter fell 6.5% from a year earlier to $3.5 billion, while operating income sank 6.1% to $75.8 million. (Wang still expects Acer to match or slightly exceed its 2008 operating profits in 2009.) Bryan Ma, a computer-industry analyst at IDC in Singapore, says Acer risks tarnishing its brand in the long run. But during the recession, Ma says, Acer's product mix will help it outperform. "They're in the right place at the right time," he says...
...that does not mean that buying and holding a portfolio composed mostly of stocks--the standard investing advice of the past quarter-century--makes sense for all of us. In the past few years, the mantra of "stocks for the long run" has come under fire from some respected students of financial markets. Their two main critiques have to do with those terms long run and best. The first debate centers on whether you can count on stocks' long-term advantage to work out over your particular investment horizon; the second is about whether an investment as risky as stocks...
...After years of globe-trotting, Benny Andersson - one quarter of that legendary Swedish pop group Abba - hit on the idea of converting a 1930s Art Deco cinema, in the now fashionable district of Södermalm, into a boutique hotel. But banish all thoughts of an Abba-themed property from your mind. The group's music may enjoy continued success - most recently, their songs formed the basis of the movie smash Mamma Mia! - but at the Hotel Rival the connection is barely discernible. One of the group's albums is always among the CDs in each bedroom, and the occasional...