Acer president Jim Wong (also referred to in the media as JT Wong) has been one of Microsoft"s biggest critics in the past year. He"s been pretty open about his feelings that Microsoft should not enter the PC hardware industry with the Surface tablet and in January, he said that the launch of Windows 8 was not successful.
That has not stopped Acer from launching new Windows 8 products, including a new tablet with an included keyboard cover, the Aspire P3, and a unique looking laptop/all-in-one PC, the Aspire R7. Bloomberg reports that during a press event to introduce these products on Friday, Wong said that Microsoft can still compete with Apple and Google in the mobile space.
Wong stated, "Windows for now is still a leader in the productivity field." However, he feels that in terms of mobile products such as tablets and smartphones, Microsoft can start to catch up to Google and Apple in the next year, adding, "We have high hopes.”
Wong believes that Microsoft is still lacking in the number of apps for mobile devices but that the company is working to solve that issue. The Windows Phone Store currently has over 130,000 apps while Windows 8 has over 65,000 apps in the Windows Store to download.
Acer is apparently planning to launch a small 8-inch Windows 8 tablet in the near future, according to an Amazon.com page listing that was quickly taken down on Friday. An Acer spokesperson told Neowin, "We have not announced this product and have no further comment at this time."
Source: Bloomberg | Image via Acer