Acer may be one of the more vocal hardware companies around, but the company is still a longtime Microsoft partner. As a matter of pure fact, the company is the fourth largest PC maker behind leaders like Lenovo, HP and Dell.
Executives from the company have shared their opinions on the current state of the PC industry in general and Microsoft’s hardware ambitions in particular.
Now it appears that the Taiwanese company is planning to focus more on its non-Windows business in order to capitalize on the nonstop growth of alternative platforms like Android and Chrome OS.
Acer is said to have already outlined an aggressive little short term plan for these two platforms, and the company now expects its Android product lineup to account for around 10 to 12 percent of its revenue by the end of this year, and grow it to as high as 30 percent in 2014.
According to a report over at The Register, Acer President Jim Wong confirmed the company’s new strategy during a conference call with investors on Thursday, where it also posted a loss of $11.4 million for the quarter.
Wong was quoted as saying:
“The Windows camp has to do something to reestablish or reinforce confidence among PC users. People are reluctant (to buy) and are holding (off) their purchasing decisions.”
To be fair the company has a habit of releasing a mixed bag of hardware products. While some of its devices are an absolute joy to use, others are downright mediocre.
The recently released Iconia W3 tablet for instance has garnered negative reviews since release, particularly to do with its mediocre display. The Windows 8 slate had the potential to be a rather nice product at an attractive price, but the lackluster screen sealed the deal.
