Acer has decided to delay the launch of its ARM-based Windows RT tablets in light of Microsoft’s recent announcement for the availability of Surface RT. President of Acer Jim Wong shared that “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.”
The number 4 hardware manufacturer in the world had set its sights on Q1 of next year to launch its ARM-based Windows 8 tablets, but Microsoft seems to have warranted the push of the launch to at least Q2. Acer was one of the first hardware partners to voice strong concern about Microsoft launching their own tablet, citing that it would be a threat to the hardware partners and the relationship they had established with the Redmond based company.
While companies like Lenovo and Asustek had just got done announcing their Windows RT slates around the $599 mark, Microsoft has further taxed its relationship with the companies by pricing its own product a $100 cheaper. If Microsoft’s own Surface RT wasn’t competition enough, a cheaper price point is definitely bound to ruffle up more feathers.
Acer is waiting to see how the Surface RT tablet does now that it’s out and how the market takes to it given the price point. As Acer has already made very clear, R&D on their Windows RT tablet has not stopped. “I don’t know what’s next, what Microsoft will do,” Wong said. “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.” The approach does seem like a good one, to wait and see how the Surface RT is received and then work on a tablet that addressed any of the flaws it may have.
For now, the Acer tablets running Windows 8 have been delayed to the second quarter of 2013.