BARCELONA, Spain – The smartphone market got just a little more crowded as laptop maker Acer Inc. announced a lineup of four new Windows Mobile-based smartphones, the first of its efforts to cash in on the growing sector. Acer will run up against a range of competitors in the field, including HTC Corp., Research In Motion Ltd. and LG Electronics Co. Ltd.
“The smartphone market is the natural direction of our long term mobile strategy as our ambition is to offer compelling solutions to all the needs of mobile users. Our experience has given us the ability to listen to the market, but also the capacity to anticipate it. We’re not only spectators of consumers lives; we’re active participants in their desires and choices” said Gianfranco Lanci, president and CEO of Acer, in a statement. “This proactive approach of listening and responding will make our mission of breaking barriers between people and technology more real than ever. We’re just taking on another dimension.”
Acer’s four new Windows Mobile-based smartphones carry a range of high-end features, including Wi-Fi support, GPS technology and touch screens. The phones support the GSM family of technologies, though it’s unclear whether they will be available to U.S. wireless consumers. Acer was not immediately available to comment on if, when and at what price the phones would be available.
Nonetheless, Acer’s entrance into the smartphone market indicates the company’s intention to sit at the intersection of computing and wireless. Acer is the world’s third largest PC vendor, according to Gartner, and hopes its successes there will boost it in the white-hot smartphone space.
Indeed, the company is working to cash in on all the market slots between full-blown desktop computers and smartphones. Acer Chairman J.T. Wang told the Wall Street Journal that netbooks now account for about 30% of Acer’s laptop sales. Acer expects global sales of netbooks in 2010 to be between 25 million and 35 million units a year, or 15% to 20% of the company’s total PC sales, he said.
Further, according to the WSJ, Wang said Acer expects sales of smartphones to account for up to 10% of its revenue within three years.
