NEW YORK — Survivor isn’t usually the most encouraging descriptor in the CE industry, but Acer isn’t shying away from this self-named status.
As part of a massive 40-plus-product rollout here in late April, Acer president/ CEO Jason Chen shed some light on the company’s three-pronged 2015 strategy, saying the compay plans to:
• build on its computing strengths;
• accelerate its smartphone growth; and
• expend into new and growing markets such as the connected car, smart homes, healthcare services and communications.
Chen said Acer is among the four to five major survivors in the PC industry, vowing, “We will be the last man standing in the PC industry.”
Not that the smartphone market doesn’t face its own challenges, he acknowledged, because only one company makes a profit in smartphones. Chen predicted that “there will be more people trying to exit the segment than get in,” but Acer will grow via consistency and persistence.
As part of that persistence, it will bring its first smartphone to the U.S. in June, the Liquid M220 Windows model shown at the Mobile World Congress. It will be sold in Microsoft stores at the extremely low unlocked price of $79, and more smartphones will “probably” come to the U.S. by year’s end, Acer smartphone president S.T. Liew told TWICE. The company plans to remain focused and selective in its offerings and “not be everything to everyone in the world,” he added.
In other firsts, Acer will also bring its inaugural wearables to the United States: the Liquid Leap, Liquid Leap Fit and Liquid Leap Curve wristbands with 1-inch touchscreens and price tags that start less than $100. (The Liquid Leap first debuted overseas last year.) The company also promised additional wearables but declined to say what types.
In addition to this news, Acer disclosed details about more than 40 new products, occupying space in nearly every facet of computing: gaming desktops and laptops, monitors, Chromebooks, tablets, notebooks, convertible notebooks and two-in-one notebooks. The details included both completely new products — such as the Predator gaming notebook — and refreshes to existing lines, such as an improved snap-hinge design on the Switch 11-sereies detachables.
