Microsoft is having a tough time getting many of its PC manufacturing partners to use Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT for their new devices and now The Wall Street Journal reports that longtime Windows OEM Acer is trying to grow its “non-Windows business as soon as possible” by embracing Android for mobile devices. Acer’s goal is to generate 30% of its revenue from Android devices and Chromebooks by the end of 2014, up from the 10% of revenue that the company expects those devices will deliver this year.
The trouble, of course, is that Acer may find it’s just as hard to make a profit from selling Android devices as it is to make a profit from selling Windows-based PCs. Although companies such as Sony and LG have lately turned in respectable results selling Android devices, Samsung is still the only company that makes money from Android devices on a consistent basis. Even so, Acer seems to think that it least has a shot at being more profitable with Android because Windows for the moment looks like a dead end.
“For the PC industry, I haven’t seen light at the end of the tunnel,” Acer president Jim Wang told the Journal. “First, we have to sustain our market share and protect our bottom line…and by doing tablets and smartphones right, we can be prepared for the day after tomorrow.”
