AFP reports from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Acer is moving into Smartphones. According to AFP:
Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer announced a move into the mobile phone market on Monday, unveiling its first range of high-end handsets at an industry event in Barcelona.
The group, best known for its laptops, unveiled eight "smartphones" that have Internet and powerful processing and memory capabilities as well as core phone functionality.
"The smartphone market is a natural direction of our long-term mobile strategy," said chief executive Gianfranco Lanci during a press conference at Mobile World Congress.
The first four handsets are expected to go on sale worldwide in March or April, marketing manager Sylvia Pan told AFP.
The touch-screen phones, demonstrated here mostly in black with a design that resembles the top-selling Apple iPhone, will connect to the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection and run with the Windows mobile operating system.
The move illustrates two trends in the mobile phone industry: the growing attractiveness of the high-end market for "smartphones" and the arrival of traditional laptop computer makers in this segment.
The diversification strategy for Acer is clear and I wouldn't be surprised if we see more traditional PC companies moving into new market segments. From my perspective (and it is the perspective or a person who dislikes mobile phones) the concept of the telephone is changing/has changed from a simple communications device to an application rich, lifestyle device that is meant to make life easy such as mobile internet banking etc.
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