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Taiwanese computer vendor Acer is planning to introduce an Android-based smart phone by the end of the year to add to the ten phones based on Windows Mobile already in the works for 2009, reports Bloomberg. Acer’s head of mobile-phone products Aymar de Lencquesaing said that the world’s third largest computer maker had made no formal announcements around Android, though “it’s likely that we’ll have one in 2009.”

In February, at Mobile World Congress, Acer unveiled its first four cellphones, which are based on Windows Mobile. Skepticism that the computer vendor can crack the highly competitive smartphone market runs high, but the company plans to differentiate itself by using its presence in computers and now cellphones to offer products that can more easily synch data between devices. De Lencquesaing said in a Bloomberg TV interview, “One of the pain points for users around the world is ‘how do I basically port my environment from one device to another? Because we have a suite of products in the mobile-data space that covers the whole spectrum, we can offer synchronization between all devices.”
Acer has ambitious plans for its cellphone venture. De Lencquesaing reiterated that the computer vendor wants to become one of the top five handset vendors in the world by 2012. In a separate interview with Dow Jones, de Lencquesaing estimated that the company would need to sell in the region between 20 million to 25 million devices a year to reach its goal, based on its analysis of the market. Earlier this year, its Chairman J.T. Wang said the company needs to start offering smartphones, which he believes could eventually supersede PCs altogether.