Acer launching six smartphones in 2013 (one, Windows 8)

Six new smartphones are arriving in 2013 courtesy of Acer.

However, the devices – five Android phones and a single Windows Phone 8– are being targeted for Europe, Southeastern Asia, and China.

That likely doesn't bring much joy for American smartphone enthusiasts or those just looking for a quick upgrade in 2013.

But it does give emerging markets like India, Indonesia, and Malaysia something to cheer about; according to Acer president Jim Wong, in an interview with Digitimes, Acer will be focusing on these areas – and Thailand – for future smartphone sales.

Chinese expansion

Acer's also going to hit up China to sell some phones.

However, Wong says that Acer isn't going to tap into the market for super-inexpensive devices; the company plans to stick to entry-level to mid-range smartphones

According to the latest figures from market research firm Canalys, total smartphone shipments for China alone in the second quarter of 2012 – 25.6 million – equaled just over one-fourth of the world's total smartphone shipments, period.

That represents a growth of 199 percent over the figures seen one year prior – more than four times the total worldwide growth rate for smartphones (47 percent).

The U.S., in comparison, took second place for total smartphone shipments this part quarter with a 16 percent share.

As for the operating system breakdown, 68 percent of the 158 million smartphones shipped during the second quarter ran Android.

Smartphones running iOS ate up 16.4 percent, with Windows Phones coming in at a distant fifth place (3.2 percent).

Acer's new smartphones

While Acer didn't say exactly what its smartphones are going to be, consist of, or even look like – save for details on the operating systems previously mentioned – the company did tease that its entry-level devices will run MediaTek chips.

The to-be-released, mid-range Acer smartphones will sport dual-core CPUs from Qualcomm.

Via Digitimes, Canalys