Acer Windows Phone 7 devices coming Autumn 2011
EXCLUSIVE: September or October release — An Acer spokesperson has confirmed to Pocket-lint that Acer will be joining the Windows Phone 7 party this autumn, with a September or October 2011 launch planned.
Context & Ripple Effects
Acer's phone strategy has been explicitly Android-first since its October 2009 decision to shift focus to Android smartphones, so a confirmed Windows Phone 7 commitment marks a reversal into dual-OS territory. It also lands as Microsoft's platform is still young: the Microsoft and AT&T handset unveil only reached US shelves at the end of September 2010, and Acer would be arriving roughly a year behind Samsung, HTC and LG.
First-order effects
- Acer's autumn 2011 smartphone line now spans two operating systems, with Windows Phone 7 devices slated for September or October alongside its existing Android handsets.
- Microsoft gains one of the world's largest PC makers — the number-one netbook manufacturer per its own positioning — as a new Windows Phone 7 hardware partner for the critical autumn selling season.
Second-order effects
- Incumbent Windows Phone 7 partners face fresh competition on hardware pricing and carrier shelf space from an OEM with Acer's cost discipline and retail reach.
- Android's OEM base shows further signs of hedging: a vendor that bet publicly on Android in 2009 now treats Google's platform as one option among several, weakening the exclusivity assumptions behind carrier and developer bets on either side.
Third-order effects
- If PC-scale manufacturers keep splitting their phone portfolios across operating systems, mobile OS vendors will increasingly have to compete on per-device economics and partner terms rather than assuming OEM loyalty — a structure where no single platform can count on any given hardware maker.
The trend: Large PC OEMs are treating mobile operating systems as a portfolio to hedge across rather than a platform to commit to, with Microsoft buying back partners it lost to Android.