Reported emerged earlier this week that Acer is gearing up to join the Windows Phone party next year. This was said to be a strategic move by the hardware maker as it will allow it some spread its portfolio a bit as it faces tough competition from other Android vendors.
The company previously dabbed with Microsoft’s mobile platform when it launched a Windows Phone 7 smartphone around the time the Mango update rolled out in 2011.
But since then, Acer’s focus has been on Android devices.
Now however, the company’s vice president of smartphones for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Allen Burnes, talking to TechRadar, confirmed that Acer is quite interested in Windows Phone 8. He however noted that now isn’t the right time, we may have to wait a while:
“We are looking at Windows Phone 8, we think it’s a great OS. The integration with Xbox is nice, the enterprise suite is nice, but I think no-one knows about it.”
The senior executive is obviously alluding to the market share of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, which to be honest is still low. But the platform is showing some notable traction, and is currently the third largest smartphone platform in terms of handset shipments.
Small numbers aside, Burnes is still confident that the platform is poised for bigger and better things in the near future. And when it does, Acer will be ready and raring:
“We’ve made the decision not to launch a Windows Phone 8 device this year. Next year, depending on how we see the growth go this year, we may well do.”
Burnes, however, criticized Microsoft in failing to generate awareness among buyers, saying that the overall marketing strategy of the technology titan should be independent and not rely on Nokia, which he believes has its own set of challenges of rebuilding its brand.
