While the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei are already dabbling in the tens of millions of units sold and Lenovo is also gaining ground, Acer has more modest expectations for the following months. They have set internal goals of shipping 10 million tablets and 10 million handsets this year.
This should be a pretty big increase from the 1.5 million and 5 million shipped in 2013, according to Acer’s Taiwanese supply chain makers. Acer regained normal business operations in the first quarter of 2014, canceling the negative impact of the personnel reshuffles in the second half of 2013, according to company CEO Jason Chen.
Acer will debuted three 7 to 8 inch Android slates in the second quarter and over 10 smartphones this year, according to the same supply chain makers. Trying to minimize production costs, Acer will decrease their ODM production by Taiwanese companies Compal and Wistron to 30% of the 2014 target shipments. Meanwhile, they plan to increase outsourcing to Chinese partners by 70%.
