14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since Microsoft announced that it’s working on Windows 8 and the Surface RT, Acer has constantly stepped in front of the media to criticize the software company for its efforts in the hardware industry.
Of course, it all happened because Microsoft, the long-time Acer partner, could become a rival fighting for the same market.
This time it’s President Jim Wong’s turn to criticize Microsoft and its newest products, as he believes that the way the Redmond-based firm promoted Surface has been “confusing to customers.”
Wong told AllThingsD at this year’s CES that Windows 8’s sales performance has been disappointing so far, but both Acer and Microsoft expect to do better in the future.
“The promotion of the product is really focused on the keyboard, and the users really don’t know how to maximize the touch experience,” Wong said. “It was disappointing, but we have to work closely with Microsoft to get customer feedback on what works and what doesn’t.”
In addition, Acer’s Chief Marketing Officer, Michael Birkin, has also added that Microsoft has made the wrong decision to promote both Windows 8 and the Surface RT at the same time.
“There was just a lot of messaging coming out at the same time: Windows 8, Surface, RT,” he explained.
But this isn’t the first time when Acer decides to criticize Microsoft as the company’s efforts in the hardware industry have been deemed an attempt to kill manufacturers.
“They are doing something to kill the whole ecosystem. They have all this cash. They could kill everybody,” Acer’s CEO said in October. “Maybe they think they need to do something aggressive to compete with Apple and not rely on brands like Acer,” Wang concluded.
Unsurprisingly, Acer still relies quite a lot on Windows 8, so the company has brought its entire lineup featuring Microsoft’s new operating system at the 2013 CES, including the Iconia W700 and the Aspire S7.