Acer's Aussie channel boss exits

Acer’s top channel executive Walter Olson has left the company after less than a year in the position.

Olson left the company at the end of January, where he was head of distribution and channel sales, an Acer spokesperson confirmed. His departure comes approximately six months after he was appointed to the role.

The move follows the departure of Olson's predecessor Stuart Buxton after a temporary stint at Acer last year, a few months after joining the company. At the time he told CRN he had onboarded Olson as his successor. Buxton subsequently took a role at games company EA.

According to Olson’s LinkedIn page, he has taken the role of head of sales at mobile accessories vendor Targus. CRN was unable to reach Olson for comment by the time of publication, and Targus was not able to supply a comment by the time of publication.

Acer’s spokesperson said the company hoped to finalise a new appointment imminently.

Acer has reported an upturn in global revenue growth, with year-on-year growth of 5.8 percent for January this year. Share of PC shipments has also improved, with Acer Group’s share of worldwide shipments increasing 3.2 percent from the previous year in the fourth quarter, according to IDC in January.

In Australia, Acer reported a $47 million net loss for the financial year ending 31 December 2013.

Since then, Acer has launched a number of initiatives locally, including a BYOD portal listing a variety of devices including Chromebooks, notebooks and Ultrabooks. Late last year it also announced an SMB channel program called the Acer Elite Partner Program.