It"s no secret that Acer doesn"t like Microsoft entering into the PC hardware space with the Windows RT-based Surface tablet. That didn"t stop Acer from launching a number of Windows 8-based PCs, including the thin and light Acer Aspire S7 notebook, shown above.
While Acer execs have said in the past it plans to launch its own Windows RT tablets, it appears that the launch of the Surface, and its $499 starting price point, has caused the company to delay those products until well into 2013.
Reuters reports that, according to Acer President Jim Wong, "Originally our plan was Q1, but now I don"t think it will be earlier than Q2," He added, "Originally we had a very aggressive plan to come out very early next year but because of Surface, our R&D development doesn"t stop, but we are much more cautious."
Wong indicated that Acer"s plans for a Windows RT product will depend very much on the Surface launch, saying, "We are watching how Surface is doing ... How is RT accepted by customers, how Microsoft is aggressive on RT and on Surface, we don"t know... We want to see."
Dell, Asus and Lenovo are all releasing their own Windows RT-based tablets this fall.
Source: Reuters | Image via Acer