14 DAY TRIAL // Although Acer is not a big player on the smartphone market, not to mention that it barely counts on the Windows Phone market, the company has just announced plans to release new devices powered by Microsoft’s next generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8.
Speaking at a conference in China, Chen Guowei, Global Smartphone Business Group general manager at Acer, has stated that the company is already working on Windows Phone 8 devices, which are expected to be released on the market in the second half of 2013.
Apparently, Acer considers that the launch of the Allegro WP7 smartphone was a mistake and that Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has yet to achieve a good response on the market.
However, it looks like Acer is willing to change its mind once Windows Phone 8 gets released. According to Guowei, Windows Phone is likely to mature with the WP8, which is why the company plans to heavily invest in this platform.
It is also worth mentioning that Acer said it would continue to focus on Android platform until the launch of the first Windows Phone 8 devices next year.
We’re not sure if the company plans to split its operations in order to have a representative portfolio of both Windows Phone and Android devices, but Acer is likely to offer more details in the near future.
On a side note, if Acer decides to release its first Windows Phone devices in the second half of 2013, it might be a bit late as Nokia already confirmed it would launch its first WP8 smartphones by the end of this year.
In the same piece of news, in order to emphasize its support for Google’s Android platform, Acer recently launched two Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones in China. No other details have been provided yet, but it’s been confirmed that both will soon go on sale in the Mainland.