By Ian King March 10 (Bloomberg) — Demand for Apple Inc. ’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Nexus One will help propel smartphone sales past those of personal computers in two years, Gartner Inc. forecasts. The CHART OF THE DAY shows that smartphone sales will more than triple to 491.9 million units by 2012 from 139.3 million in 2008, according to the Stamford, Connecticut-based research firm. The PC market will expand to 443.1 million units from 290.8 million in the same period, Gartner predicted on March 4. “Smartphones are headed towards that billion-unit category that handsets are in today,” said Jim McGregor , an analyst at research firm In-Stat in Scottsdale, Arizona. “The smartphone is the billion-unit pot of gold that everyone wants.” The rise of the smartphone has prompted the computer industry to respond with their own products in an attempt to retain control over consumer access the Internet. Intel Corp., the largest maker of computer chips, has revived an earlier failed attempt to get its processors into phones. So far, only LG Electronics Inc. has said it will make a phone using an Intel chip. Microsoft Corp., the biggest maker of computer software, unveiled a new version of its Windows mobile phone operating system earlier this month, aiming to hold off gains made by Apple and Google. Apple fired up interest in phones that double as handheld computers with the first iPhone, introduced in 2007. Google, owner of the world’s most visited search engine, has since responded with the Nexus One handset and Android operating system, which is being used by phone makers such as Motorola Inc. To contact the reporters on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net
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Smartphones Eclipse PCs by 2012 as IPhone, Android Take Off: Chart of Day
By Tim Culpan and Bruce Einhorn Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) — Acer Inc. , the world’s No. 2 computer vendor, said stronger-than-expected sales of its Google Inc. Android phone, named Liquid, have led to shortages of the device. “Liquid is doing much better than our expectation,” Gianfranco Lanci , president of the Taipei-based company, said in an interview yesterday. “This is why we’re a little bit short of supply.” The Liquid touch-screen handset, unveiled in October, competes against models from HTC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Inc. in the market for phones using the free Android platform. Acer expects its smartphone sales, including those using Microsoft Corp. ’s Windows system, to total between 2 million and 3 million units this year, Lanci said. Acer expects to ship at least 250,000 Liquid handsets by the end of this quarter, compared with initial expectations for 150,000 to 200,000, Lanci said. Smartphones will account for 10 percent of Acer’s revenue in about three years, one year later than initial company predictions because of last year’s global economic slump, the executive said. “It’s a very competitive market and depends a lot on feedback from customers,” said Angela Hsiang , who rates the company “outperform” at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei. “If you launch a product and it’s successful, that’s very positive in helping marketing for the future.” Acer shares lost 2.3 percent to NT$84.80 as of 11:40 a.m. in Taipei today, taking its decline this year to 11.8 percent compared with a 12.4 percent slide in the benchmark Taiex index. Liquid is manufactured by Taipei-based Compal Communications Inc. while Foxconn International Holdings Ltd. will make a second Android handset for Acer this quarter, Jim Wong , president of Acer’s IT Products division, said Jan. 22. Technical problems and slow consumer acceptance of Android led to Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC posting a 5 percent drop in revenue last year, its first annual sales decline . HTC, maker of Google’s Nexus One handset, shipped 11.7 million smartphones in 2009, it said in a Jan. 26 statement . To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net ; Bruce Einhorn in Hong Kong at beinhorn1@bloomberg.net ;
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Acer’s Google Android Phone Sales Beat Expectations, President Lanci Says
