2	Acer, gets, into, Smartphone, war, India., Can, compete, with, Nokia,, Apple, and, HTC?

Thanks to Apple and iPhone Smartphone is booming again. As with all things booming, every one wants a piece of it and Acer is no different.

Acer the 3rd largest PC manufacturer got into Smartphone market in India with the launch of 5 phones. The Smartphone’s from Acer would range from 16000 to 35000 rupees. With this launch and many more to come Acer is trying to gain a 6-7% of smartphone market share. But the only problem is it got Nokia, HTC, Apple and Samsung to compete with.

This official launch in India marks the first step of our Smart Handheld Business Group in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile market, (Business Line)

Acer’s launch coincides with the reports that global mobile industry is set to lose $20bn just this year. That did not stop anybody from doing what they do. Samsung and LG /are gearing up their products and LG is set to release 50 models by the end of this year.

These 5 phones offered by Acer provide variety and shows significant research of the market. Its DX900 is a dual-SIM phone which is very popular in India. The phones are also touch screen and slide-out QWERT type to go head-on with Nokia’s latest offering of Nokia N97. Operating system used is Windows Mobile 6.1.

Let us take a look at what the 5 models has to offer :

Everything else being the same here is how they differ :

Acer Tempo M900 – Touch screen, QWERTY Keyboard and finger print sensor for authentication.

Acer X960 – In built GPS. (But that is in all the phones)

Acer DX650 – Touch screen in the front and keypad in the back

Acer DX900 -  Dual SIM (3.5G and 2.75G)

Acer Tempo F900 – Nothing really striking in this phone.

Do one thing and do it well.

That is something everyone believes and follows. Acer is trying something different here. Something like what Mobile Store’s Ray Mobile has done with their offering. The 5 phones are placed in different segments with at least one feature better than the competition (except for Tempo F900).

That way it can judge what people like and tweak their next offerings. This is what is called skimming strategy, which Apple tried to use or it thought it used. Only thing is it got the definition wrong. Ray Mobile and Acer are showing us what the skimming strategy is.

The price of these is not know yet except the range is between Rs. 16000 – Rs 35,000. That price range is a bit too much for the phone offerings. It should be between Rs. 8000 – Rs. 25000 given the fact that Acer is a new entrant in the mobile phone market.

Will it use Hrithik Roshan for marketing these phones as well?

*Specifications and images from TechTree