This was inevitable.
Acer is in trouble for allegedly violating certain Hewlett-Packard patents. And in turn, Acer is blaming – who else? – its contract assemblers.
Never mind that Acer, too, made its name supplying components and building PCs before deciding it could do as well by branding its own line of computers. More irony: One of the three companies Acer is suing – Wistron Corp. – was once Acer’s contract assembly division.
This well may be gamesmanship on HP’s part. Acer has hit No. 3 on the PC leaderboard, just behind Dell. The leader? HP.
But what’s instructive here is what opponents of outsourcing have long argued: that EMS firms simply could not guarantee the security of their customers’ IP. For its part, Acer seems to be affirming that. And the computer maker seems intent on bringing down its suppliers with it. It’s unfortunate, but it was also utterly predictable.