Electronics maker Acer this week released its first smartphone using Google’s Android operating system. The head of the company’s mobile management department says that this does not signal a new effort from Acer to compete in the crowded U.S. handset market, according to an interview with Reuters.

Aymar de Lencquesaing, speaking to Reuters tech correspondent Tarmo Virki, said that the company’s "sweet spot" in the smartphone market would be "about eight to 10 devices" released per year, in contrast to mobile giants like Samsung and Motorola, which release 50-100 handsets every year.

Virki suggests that PC makers have been attracted to the smartphone market by the generous profit margins, which are much higher than those in the world of PC manufacturing.

Virki’s report notes that Android-powered devices have captured 3.5 percent of the mobile market in just one year, taking market share away from rivals Windows Mobile and Symbian. Google – in conjunction with Verizon and Motorola – released the Droid earlier this month, which boosted the Android OS’s public profile and served notice that Google intends to compete directly with the established giants of its field.

This entry was posted by Mobility Management News Desk on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Managing Mobile Devices News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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