Acer will continue developing tablets, despite struggles

By Jeffrey Van Camp December 27, 2011

acer-iconia-tab-a500-front — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Like most PC companies, Acer has not had an easy time entering the tablet market Apple created, but it will not give up. According to DigiTimes, the company’s founder, Stan Shih, said that the company has no plans to abandon the fledgling market. Acer’s low sales are an “unavoidable part of the process,” and are similar to the difficulties it had entering the laptop market some years back, he said.

This comes as Acer’s board of directors is working to streamline the company’s operations, which may include merging tablet and smartphone development, as the two platforms are currently quite similar. If it manages to regain some ground, the company will, of course, expand operations and staff dedicated to the platforms.

Acer has had a particularly rough transition into the tablet market. Though we’re fans of the Acer Iconia Tab A500 and A100, the tablets haven’t been a huge hit with consumers. The manufacturer has also toyed with Android-based smartphones, but has yet to make any headway here in the United States. Adding to the problems, sales of laptops have been slowing, which was a major reason why Acer replaced its CEO in March 2011. We won’t know more until 2012, but it’s known that the company is working on Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows 8 devices, which may offer the easiest transition into these new markets for the PC brand. Acer also released its first Ultrabook in the last few months, though sales have been lower than expected.

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