Viewsonic plans 3G smartphone push

The global smartphone market is growing. And it’s growing fast. In a bid to cash on the coming wave of curious smartphone newcomers and finicky smartphone veterans alike, display maker Viewsonic has announced its plans to enter the 3G smartphone market. The move makes sense, as the smartphone market actually managed to grow through months of economic turbulence, leaving the rest of the mobile phone market in its dust.

The smartphone market isn’t exactly an easy nut to crack. Just ask Garmin. The personal navigation device manufacturer recently made a push into the smartphone arena, but despite over a year of presumed development, Garmin has yet to launch a smartphone. Viewsonic plans to leverage their “heritage in display technology” to create compelling smartphones that offer “larger screens, greater color saturation and contrast to take advantage of new services such as mobile Internet, television and video applications, gaming and eBooks.”

James Chu, chairman and CEO of Viewsonic, says that Viewsonic’s move into the 3G smartphone market “is an important strategic step for ViewSonic, as it allows us to apply our display technology to an even larger and rapidly growing worldwide market.”

Laptop-maker-turned-smartphone-manufacturer Acer has yet to really prove itself in the smartphone market, but it at least paved the way for the likes of Viewsonic to make it in the mobile world.