Taiwanese computer maker Acer gathered together executives and analysts to discuss its financial results for the first quarter of 2010—which totaled up to about $5.2 billion in revenue with a 63 percent rise in profits. But company executives also delivered a surprise: the company plans to launch a full line of mobile Internet devices (MIDs) by the end of May 2010.
Acer’s chiefs didn’t offer up much in the way of details about what their devices would offer, save that they would all come with 3G connectivity and be able to interact with each other to share data. According to Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci, the devices will also run version 4 of Acer’s Shell interface. Acer did not reveal which mobile operating system Shell 4 will be running on: leading guesses are Android and Windows Mobile 6.5.
Acer currently markets and Android-powered smartphone dubbed “Liquid” in Europe and Asia, but hasn’t made any carrier deals in North America. Lanci previously said the company wants to aggressively increase smartphone sales going into 2011.
Acer says some 69 percent of its revenue from the first quarter of 2010 came from the sale of netbook and notebook computers; Acer forecast that sales growth of netbooks will continue to outpace sales growth of notebook computers, and estimated netbook sales will grow by 50 percent during 2010. About half of Acer’s revenue comes from Europe, with a quarter coming from the United States (in part through its Gateway and E-Machines subsidiaries). The rest of Acer’s business is in the Asia-Pacific region, and the company says it is retooling its efforts in China, where Acer’s customers seem to tend towards larger displays and discrete graphics controllers.
