Acer, the world's third-largest PC maker, says it's going to write off $150 million in inventories in Europe and on accounts receivable in Spain after an internal audit found unidentified "abnormalities in terms of channel inventory." It may be aging, unexciting widgetry.

Acer chairman JT Wang says he will now dock his bonus for 2010 and other board members are reportedly prepared to cut their compensation in half. Employee bonuses will be cut 40%, but shareholders will still get their dividend.

Acer figures to lay off 300 people in EMEA to cut expenses by $30 million. A second-quarter lost wouldn't surprise anybody at this point.

The company's got an Android-based Iconia Tab A500 to complete with iPad on price. It's had one based on Windows since February. A Wi-Fi version of the Android Honeycomb widget goes for $450. A 4G wireless version won't be available until the summer sometime.

Like Dell, at least the old Dell, Acer's R&D budget is negligible.

Its stock these days is worth half of what it was.