Acer said at its first quarter investor conference that it's going to launch its first Windows Mobile based smartphone by the end of this year or early next year.
Acer made its interest in the smartphone market very clear in March, when it purchased fellow Taiwanese company E-Ten, which makes smartphones under the Glofiish brand.
At the conference, Acer said E-Ten would shift entirely to smartphones and away from PDAs, which it has sold in the past. In another change, the new Acer smartphone will be sold through wireless carriers, instead of directly to retail, as E-Ten has historically done.
Acer has played catchup to its PC rivals this past year, growing organically as well as through acquisition. The company bought U.S.-based Gateway and Europe's Packard Bell, and now finds itself behind No. 2 Dell with 9 percent of worldwide market share, according to IDC.
