Acer has not made the positive start to the year that it was banking on after confirming a double-digit decline year-on-year in sales for January.

After a disastrous 2011 in which Acer posted losses, parted with its CEO and a stack of senior management, and was knocked further down the pecking order in the global PC market, the firm was planning on a speedy recovery.

But according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Acer said unconsolidated sales in January slumped by 18.47 per cent to NT$27.2b (£583m).

The firm initiated legal action against former boss Gianfranco Lanci, who quit in March and six months later joined Lenovo as a consultant before being handed control of EMEA PC operations last month.

Earlier this week Acer accused Lanci of breaching a non-compete clause in his Ts&Cs by turning up at the rival. Meanwhile it talked up its prospects for growth this year.

"Acer has a solid 2012 business plan for the European market and is back on the right track of end to end operations," it said.

El Reg met Acer UK management last month and the firm insisted the inventory management issues were confined to history. The tech biz voiced bullish expectations that the Ultrabook form-factor will help raise ASPs. ®