It"s been over three years since Acer launched its last Windows Phone, the W4, but if a new report is to be believed, the company could return to the platform early next year.
The W4 - pictured here - was released in the days of Windows Phone 7.5, but Acer decided to bail from the platform before the launch of the next OS version, Windows Phone 8. In June 2013, however, Acer showed a slide at a company event, which indicated that it was planning to launch a new handset in the first half of 2014, with the intention of providing "a unique experience across Win8 and WP8".
Just a few days later, an Acer executive said that Windows Phone is "a great OS", but added that "no-one knows about it." Then, at the beginning of this year, another Acer executive said the company could not "take the risk" on Windows Phone until its market share and app situation improved further - and of course, the handset that was supposed to launch this year has never been seen.
Acer"s history of support for the OS hasn"t exactly been wholehearted or especially consistent, then - but it"s against this backdrop that Gizbot claims that Acer is not just returning to the Windows Phone platform, but that it plans to do so on an unprecedented scale.
The report states that Acer "is relooking [sic] to unveil a slew of Windows Phone smartphones next year". Gizbot has no details on the devices themselves, but says it"s been told that "the company could launch its new Windows Phone lineup in the first half of 2015".
For now, though, this all remains the stuff of rumor, and until a second credible source can corroborate at least some of these claims regarding Acer"s plans, it"s probably best not to get your hopes up. Still, even if Acer doesn"t return, there are plenty more Windows Phones from dozens of other brands on the way in the months ahead.
Source: Gizbot via WMPowerUser