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Acer won't give up on tablets and smartphones, will have fewer models

Acer won't give up on tablets and smartphones, will have fewer models

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Among the tumult of its reorganization this year, Acer has managed to stimulate imaginations sufficiently to spark the rumor that it's quitting tablets and smartphones because of its poor track record in both categories. The company's founder Stan Shih has today dispelled that scuttlebutt, saying that Acer will persist with its efforts to break through into both markets.

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Acer Allegro Blue
Acer Allegro Blue

Among the tumult of its reorganization this year, Acer has managed to stimulate imaginations sufficiently to spark the rumor that it's quitting tablets and smartphones because of its poor track record in both categories. The company's founder Stan Shih has today dispelled that scuttlebutt, saying that Acer will persist with its efforts to break through into both markets. The now-retired chief of the Taiwanese company equates Acer's so far unsuccessful tablet and smartphone offerings with its early uphill battle in gaining a foothold in the notebook segment. His vision, therefore, is one of persistence eventually paying off.

Shih also goes on to reaffirm Acer's previously stated strategy of rationalizing its product portfolio and addressing the market with only a few, well thought-out and executed models. Align that with CEO JT Wang's comments that the company will aim for higher-margin and higher-quality products, and you've got the prospect of a much more Apple-like Acer in 2012. That's something Wang has been seeking for months now, though perhaps it's taken the continued irrelevance of his company's mobile devices for the message to filter through completely.