Acer integrating marketing and sales channels to drive handset sales

Acer is integrating its marketing and sales channels for notebooks and smartphones in order to boost sales of smartphones, according to Scott Lin, president of Acer Taiwan.

Acer has operated branded PC products for over 20 years and plans to leverage its expertise in brand marketing and sales channels to drive its smartphone business, Lin explained.

Lin made the remarks as Acer and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) jointly launched Acer's Android-based smartphone, the Liquid, in the Taiwan market on December 10.

Lin expects the market for smartphones in Taiwan to top one million units in 2010 compared to 610,000 units projected for 2009.

Acer also looks to ship two million smartphones globally in 2010, up substantially from the levels in 2009, Lin revealed. Smartphones shipped by Acer are expected to top 400,000-500,000 units in 2009, according to an internal estimate by Acer.