Acer is moving aggressively to become a major player in the smartphone market. After a quiet start in 2009 with the launch of just four models, in 2010 the company hopes to bring out new models monthly.
Massimo D’Angelo, Acer’s VP — Global Sales & VP, EMEA Telco Business was in the Kingdom last week for the official Saudi launch of Acer’s smartphone range. He said that for Acer, the Middle East and Africa is one of the most important for smartphones because of the many channels available to Acer to market the devices. Unlike other areas, such as Europe and the USA where handsets are mainly sold through telecoms, in the Middle East particularly, the tendency is to buy handsets through various retailers and this increases the opportunities for Acer to reach out directly to consumers.
Acer’s goal is to be one of the top five vendors in the smartphone segment by 2013. D’Angelo explained that the company’s decision to move into smartphones was put forth more than three years ago when Acer began focusing strongly on the mobility segment. The company understood that smartphones would be very important as people began accessing the Internet from a variety of devices - not just PCs. Internally Acer had to realign its teams to support the new business direction and talent was pulled from across the company to create a product team focusing on smartphones. D’Angelo emphasized that there was nothing haphazard about Acer’s foray into smartphones and just as the company has become a leader in the notebook market, they plan to become a significant player in smartphones as well. Since October 2009, Acer has been gradually introducing smartphones into the Middle East and Africa.
At the press conference last Tuesday the company had three different lines of smartphones on display. The beTouch series consists of three devices with a snappy and colorful look, designed and developed for those seeking a smartphone that allows them to keep in touch with their friends through social networks or to exchange photos, information and connect to the Internet quickly and easily. The entire beTouch range runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5, an operating system that supports literally hundreds of Windows-certified mobile applications for both work and leisure.
Power users interested in a Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphone may want to consider another handset from Acer — the neoTouch. Acer markets the neoTouch as being “as powerful as a computer.” Brimming with functions and applications, the device allows users to easily take their work anywhere. This smartphone features a wide, high-resolution touch screen measuring 3.8 inches, 3G connectivity (HSPA), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and the powerful Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor to ensure fast Internet access, superb multimedia playback and superior graphics.
While Acer will continue to develop its smartphones on the Windows Mobile platform, the company also will be including the Android operating system among its offerings. In that regard the company is showcasing the Acer Liquid, based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and running on the Android 1.6 operating system. The smartphone has a high definition capacitive touch screen (Wide VGA), and comes in a choice of red, white or black.
Asked if Saudi users were ready to accept an Android-based device, D’Angelo replied, “Everywhere the market is ready for Android devices. Users don’t care what kind of operating system is inside a smartphone. They pay much more attention to the smartphone experience. We believe that everything is going around the Internet. The experience you have using Android in the Internet environment is much more fluid and much more intuitive than the Windows Mobile experience, although the Windows Mobile experience is also very good for some specific functionalities. Our goal is to offer both operating systems to the market and the user will select the best device for the need based on the use and desired experience.”
