Acer Reportedly Still Shipping Products to Russia, Despite Saying It Wouldn’t

Acer is still shipping products to Russia —even though the PC maker said it halted its business in the country due to the Ukraine war, according(Opens in a new window) to Reuters. 

Reuters uncovered the exports by examining customs records from an unnamed commercial trade data provider. They show Acer shipped at least $70.4 million in hardware to Russia from April 8, 2022 to March 31, 2023 through a Swiss subsidiary called Acer Sales International SA.

April 8 was the day Acer told(Opens in a new window) media outlets it had suspended its business in the country, joining other tech companies, such as Nvidia and Microsoft, in stopping product sales within Russia. 

An unnamed source told Reuters that Acer shipped monitors and laptops to the country after April 8. But the Taiwanese PC maker denies any wrongdoing and insists it only exported displays and accessories for civilian use to the Russian market, thus breaking no trade sanctions.

“We strictly adhere to applicable international regulations and trade laws regarding exports to Russia,” the company told Reuters. 

Still, the news will raise questions over whether Acer has been truly respecting the sanctions against the Russian market. Back in February 2022, Taiwan —where the PC maker is based— joined Western sanctions against Russia, which should have prohibited Taiwanese-produced displays and laptops from entering the country.  

In the meantime, many tech companies have pulled out from the Russian market amid harsh sanctions from the West, which have been trying to stop the flow of technology to the country. Still, the Kremlin continues to find ways(Opens in a new window) to receive exports of high-tech goods by sourcing them from allies and surrounding countries including Armenia, Belarus, China, and Kazakhstan.