As PC sales continue to decline, many PC manufacturers have turned to mobile technology in order to stay relevant. For some, this means focusing more on tablets and lightweight Ultrabooks in order to satisfy consumer demand for computing portability. For Taiwan's Acer, however, the answer is much simpler: touchscreens.

The company recently stated it expects upwards of 80 percent of its products will use touchscreen technology within the next two years. The hope is that touch devices, namely tablets and touch-notebooks, will help revive Acer's sales in a dire period for the PC market.

As such, touchscreen models are forecasted to make up between 30 and 35 percent of Acer's total notebook PC sales, said company chairman and CEO J.T. Wang in an interview with Reuters (News - Alert). Meanwhile, the company shipped 1.2 million tablets in the first quarter of the year, with a target of between five and 10 million for the whole year.

"Price and supply for touch panels provide some constraints now but that will ease and boost the penetration of touch devices," added Wang.

Research firm IHS (News - Alert) seems to agree with Acer's strategy, predicting that shipments of touch-capable mobile PCs would grow significantly this year and in the future to make up 25 percent of all notebooks by 2016. This growth is likely tied to Windows 8's more touch-focused interface that makes having a touch-enabled laptop more worthwhile than with previous versions of Microsoft's (News - Alert) ubiquitous desktop OS.

Speaking of Windows 8, Acer recently introduced the world's first 8-inch tablet running the full version of the OS, as opposed to the ARM (News - Alert)-based Windows RT. Called the Acer Iconia W3, this tablet is perhaps the smallest device to feasibly offer the full capabilities of a PC in this form factor.

Of course, Acer is also continuing to release smartphones, having recently unveiled a new 5.7-inch, Android (News - Alert)-based phablet. According to Wang, the company will focus more on large-size smartphone devices going forward.