Acer: There's no 'Swiss Army knife' approach for consumers

When does a phone become a tablet? Acer says it doesn't matter.
When does a phone become a tablet? Acer says it doesn't matter.

Forget the post-PC world that Apple reckons we're in, the tablet, smartphone and PC-like device are all must-haves for today's consumer.

So says Acer, a company which just so happens to make smartphones, tablets and PC-like devices.

When asked if it's important to Acer to differentiate between its large smartphones and small tablets, Aymar de Lencquesaing, smartphone president at Acer, told TechRadar:

"To a certain extent it doesn't matter because really it depends on usage. If you're creating content, you want a PC. If you want something on you all the time, then it's a smartphone. The tablet is a new proposition; it's fun, it's instant-on and you can take the internet to places where you couldn't use it before."

Pointless fun

He continued, "Even in a tablet you have a different segmentation between the 7-inch and the 10-inch. So the 10-inch device by and large tends to stay in the house. The 7-inch tends to be taken with you because it's more portable.

"Our view is that there's no such thing as a Swiss Army knife approach to these things. You don't have a device that becomes the magical device that does everything for everyone tomorrow; most users will have a minimum probably of three different devices they connect with routinely.

"The 24/7 usage one is the smartphone device, one is the tablet device and one is the PC-like device. Most consumers will end up carrying and having those three devices in their lives."

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.