Acer Mobile aims to capture 5% of smartphone market

Acer, the Taiwanese electronics giant, had entered the Indian market last year, and is eyeing a 5 per cent market share of the Indian smartphone market in the short term.
S Rajendran, chief marketing officer, Acer India, explained, “We have started official shipping of products this June. So, the current market share cannot be ascertained. However, we are looking aggressively at a 5 per cent share of the smartphone market in India and globally, in the short term, hopefully within a year from now.”
The smartphone market in India is currently estimated at 3.5 million units and is expected to be about 4 million units during this calendar year.
Even though the share of smartphones in the Indian market is quite small as of now, Acer expects the Indian market to grow at a much faster pace compared to the global trend. Hence, the Indian market is a key focus for Acer’s smartphones, informed Rajendran.
Currently, Acer is selling between 2,000-3,000 units per month in India. While Acer Liquid and Stream have been very well received globally, Liquid struck a chord in the Indian markets and is selling well here.
The handset manufacturer has an array of handsets up its sleeves which will be launched in the fourth quarter this year and in the first quarter of 2011. These include entry level handsets BeTouch E120 and another touch screen plus Qwerty handset, which will be launched as part of Acer’s Betouch series.

As of now, Acer does not plan to offer feature phones and will focus on the smartphone segment. However, the electronic giant believes that entry level smartphones will eventually subsume feature phones.
The handset manufacturer has a mix of smartphones running on Windows Mobile OS as well as Android OS, and plans to launch a bouquet of smartphones priced below Rs 10,000 and going up to Rs 30,000.
Another phone that Acer will launch is in the intermediate range, and is called the BeTouch E 400.
Other than these, the company plans to launch two of its much awaited devices, the Ferrari branded designer handset and Stream, which will run on Android.
Acer has also kept a lower profile in marketing its handsets than it has with its notebooks.
Rajendran informed, “Acer India (Acer’s subsidiary in India), has set up a focused business vertical for the telecom business, and will continue to invest in growing the business.”
He added, “We will be aggressively addressing this segment in much the same way as we have done for the notebook segment. Acer India has taken up the responsibility of the smartphone business from the third quarter of 2010. We will become much more visible in this segment in India, in the coming months.”
The company sees a market for data consuming devices in the 4 inch to 10 inch form factors and would like to “address this market as and when the opportunities come up.”
As far as the distribution strategy is concerned, as with all of Acer’s products, smartphones will also be sold through distributors.