Acer aims to double its handset sales this year

Manufacturer expects to sell two million phones in 2013, with the UK market being key

Acer says it expects sales of its handsets to double during 2013 to more than two million – with the UK a key market.

The manufacturer, better known in the notebook space, announced at Mobile World Congress it aims to sell 1.5 million to two million phones globally in 2013 – twice the number it sold last year.

Acer UK sales manager for EMEA Julien Bertheuil told Mobile News the “vast proportion” of this growth will come from Europe.

Acer launched just two handsets in the UK last year, and the same number the year before.

But Bertheuil claimed the firm would double its efforts by launching four devices this year across a range of price points.

Bertheuil added despite the UK mobile device market being crowded, there is room for Acer, which may also release 4G compatible products here.

“There has been a big announcement recently, 4G, and we are watching that space and we will see if its something we can have an influence on.

“It’s not rocket science to say it’s a crowded market, however there are still some parts to be tackled and customers that would like differentiation.

“France, Benelux – we are very strong there, and when you are a bit more careful about what you spend, you will realise Acer products provide better value for money than our competitors. This doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest, we want to offer solutions at different price points.”

New handsets
The Liquid Z2 (pictured right), which will go on sale in the UK by mid March, is an Android smartphone priced below £100. It has a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 1GHz single-core processor and three-megapixel camera. Bertheuil said the Liquid Z2 is aimed at feature phone users aiming at smartphones.

The Liquid E1 (pictured left), also to launch in the UK in March, has a 4.5-inch screen, 1GHz dual-core processor, five megapixel camera and 4GB of internal memory. It will retail below £200.

Both devices, exhibited at MWC, were first unveiled on February 20.

Acer launched two tablets in the UK in February, the Iconia B1 and Iconia W510. The first is an entry-level device retailing for £99 in ASDA and Argos. It runs on Android and has a seven-inch screen and 8GB of memory.

The Iconia W510 is a Wi-Fi-only tablet with a detachable keyboard, retailing for £499 on

Amazon. The day after MWC concluded, Acer launched the 3G version, the Iconia W511, retailing at £599. Both have a battery in the screen and keyboard, meaning total battery life of 18 hours.

According to Bertheuil, the Iconia W511 will be sold mainly through telecom operators, as part of a bundle or through their channels with specific offers.

Huawei aims to ship more smartphones than Apple

Manufacturer says it wants to overtake Apple by ‘moving people’ as it launches Ascend P2 smartphone

Huawei aims to overtake Apple in terms of smartphone shipments by strengthening the emotional tie between consumers and its products, it said at Mobile World Congress.

Unveiling its new Ascend P2 premium smartphone in Barcelona, the manufacturer said, in technological terms, it has outperformed Apple in the past 20 years.

Huawei CEO of consumer business Richard Yu (pictured) said the firm wants to improve user experience by “moving people”.

The Ascend P2, which Yu claimed is the world’s fastest smartphone, comes preloaded with ‘Emotion UI’, an Android-based user interface designed to make personalising the device easier.

The interface, which was launched in August but only in Chinese, allows users to customise the way contacts and other personal information is displayed.

It is different from typical Android interfaces in that apps are not kept in the ‘draw’ but shortcuts are displayed on the home screen.

Yu said although Huawei has achieved its objective of becoming the third largest smartphone vendor in the world (according to analytics firm IDC, this happened in Q4 2012), leaders Apple and Samsung still have much higher revenues.

He said: “We are growing very fast. We want to do better than Apple. Learning from Apple, or making Android easier to use is not enough. We want to move people’s emotions.”

Yu said Huawei has also successfully made the transition from feature phone to smartphone manufacturer. He said it will now focus on higher and mid-range devices rather than low-end phones.

The ‘world’s fastest smartphone’ claim for the Ascend P2 is based on the fact it runs LTE Cat 4 technology, offering speeds of up to 150Mbps. It will also connect to DC-HSDPA, often referred to as 3.5G, with speeds of 42Mbps.

The 4.7-inch device comes with a 13-megapixel camera. Yu said, at 8.4mm wide, the Ascend P2 is “the slimmest it can be”.

He said its resolution is equal to Apple’s Retina range, as it has the world’s first HD in-cell display screen, with second generation Gorilla Glass.

The device will launch globally in Q2 of the year, and will retail at around €399 (£345).