14 DAY TRIAL // Computer maker Acer has released to the market its first Android-based mobile phone in October last year, and now it reports that the device is showing better than expected performance. According to the company, the handset sees so much traction on the market that it caused supply shortages, and its performance is expected to remain at the same level in the near future.
“Liquid is doing much better than our expectation,” Gianfranco Lanci, president of the Taipei-based company said in an interview recently, reports Business Week. “This is why we’re a little bit short of supply.” For what it's worth, the handset is indeed nice looking, and it also packs a lot of horsepower thanks to a Snapdragon processor included in it, so it makes sense that users are attracted by it.
When it comes to the ongoing quarter, Acer has increased its sales expectations for the Android-based mobile phone from the previous 150,000 to 200,000 units to up to 250,000 units. According to Acer, its phones are expected to account for 10 percent of the company's revenue for three years. At the same time, it also notes that its smartphone shipments should increase to up to between 2 million and 3 million in 2010, and that both Android and Windows Mobile-powered handsets are included in this forecast.
For what it's worth, although it enjoys a nice performance around the world, the Acer Liquid is not the hottest device available on the market with Google's Android operating system on board. It sees great competition from phones delivered by Taiwanese handset vendor HTC Corporation or by Motorola Inc., not to mention those launched by Samsung.
However, Acer seems to be pretty confident on the future of its smartphones, that's for sure. The company already announced that a second Android-based phone is under development, and it is also expected to deliver some handsets powered by Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform and by Qualcomm's Brew MP in 2010. Last year the company said that it intended to become one of the leading smartphone makers in the world, and it seems that it sticks to the plan.