Android to rock Acer smartphone this year

Acer, the world's third-largest PC brand, plans to introduce a phone model running on Google's Android software this year, the head of its phone unit said on Wednesday.

The company plans to sell this year around 10 models, with all but one using Microsoft's Windows Mobile software.

Aymar de Lencquesaing told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Paris Acer was seeing a lot of benefit from its laptop offering when looking for operator-partners to sell its smartphones.

Acer entered the smartphone market this year following the acquisition of Taiwan's portable device-maker Eten Information Systems in 2008.

The fast-growing smartphone industry has emerged as a battleground between traditional phone makers and PC makers with Asustek, Dell, HP and Lenovo also eying the growth market.

Gartner said on Wednesday it expects the smartphone market to surge 27 per cent in 2009, while the overall phone market would shrink.

In February the world's top-selling mobile phone maker Nokia said it was also planning to expand its product offering, looking to enter the laptop business.

While strong profit margins in the smartphone industry attract PC brands, the attraction of the low-margin computer industry, where scale is the key to profits, is less obvious.

"For a handset maker to move into the PC business - I'd say it was almost impossible," de Lencquesaing said. "One way is acquisition, another way is - if you're willing - to invest massively and lose a lot of money for a long time."

"If you do not have large volume then you're at such a handicap... it's very hard to compensate."

De Lencquesaing said Acer has prioritised around 40 operators to sell its phones through.

"We're in discussions with all of them. To date none of them has said 'thanks, but no thanks, and never come back,'" he said.

Acer aims to reach six to seven per cent of the smartphone market by 2012-2013, boosted by volume growth of cheap smartphones.

De Lencquesaing said the company had no plans to introduce mid-range feature phones but said it sees smartphone prices falling quickly to similar levels.

"Late 2009, we're releasing a smartphone... full touch, at the price of feature phones today," he said.