Rumors of a Dell Smartphone - Possible iPhone Competitor?

[Unspeaked]

LINK

Dell reportedly working on its own smartphone

CTIA SMARTBRIEF | 01/30/2009

Dell reportedly is preparing its own smartphone to rival Apple's iPhone, and it could be ready as early as next month. While a Dell spokesman said "we haven't committed to anything," people familiar with the product say Dell has been working on the project for more than a year and even has built a couple of prototypes...

 

[t0mat0]

Pretty ineffective use of the display amongst other things. Did Enderle have a hand in this?!

 

[Unspeaked]

More information from the referenced Reuters article:

Dell plots smartphone foray, eyes Apple

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Dell Inc is plotting a foray into the cell phone arena as early as next month, making and selling smartphones to revitalize a business walloped by crumbling PC sales and pitting the firm against Apple, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The world's No. 2 maker of PCs, which has been designing prototypes for over a year, is focusing on smartphones -- the class of high-end devices that encompasses Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry, the newspaper cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

If launched, the phones will be based on Google's Android operating system and Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, it said. One model will even feature a touchscreen, not unlike the iPhone's, the Journal reported.

However, Dell has not finalized its plans and may still abandon them, the Journal added without elaborating.

Shares in Dell climbed 1.4 percent in after-hours trade, barely denting an 8.6 percent dive during the regular session to $9.95. Microsoft stock was up 1.3 percent, and Google shares were holding steady.

Representatives for Dell and Microsoft declined to comment, and Google representatives were not available for comment.

Smartphones -- high end mobile devices that can assume many of the functions found traditionally on PCs, such as playing videos and music -- are the fastest growing segment of the cell phone industry.

IT consultancy IDC expects smartphone shipments to climb 8.9 percent globally in 2009, far outstripping a decline in the overall worldwide cell phone market.

U.S. PC giant Dell, which lost its mantle of world's largest PC maker to Hewlett-Packard about two years ago, has toyed with the idea of selling cell phones since early 2007, the Journal said.

Chief Executive Michael Dell, who returned in 2007 to the firm he founded, has explored new markets, but earlier attempts to diversify into new areas, including a plan to sell digital music players, were dropped.

Dell hired Ron Garriques, Motorola's former cell phone chief, to re-energize its consumer products division. But, under a non-compete agreement, Garriques was barred from working on mobile phones until February 2009.

 

[rdowns]

The Dell DJ.

Next.

 

[Melrose]

^^ yeh.

I snorted up my sleeve when I saw that newsbit. Any Dell smartphone will be driven by WinMobile or Aldroid, and there are smartphones a-plenty already that will be just as smooth, just as eye-catching and just as headline-hogging as anything Dell can do. In order to be a standout they've got bring some radically different idea to the table - software driven? Done. Touchscreen? Done. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of buttons? Done. What else, what else...

 

[macJC50640]

Windows vs. OSX. Simple as that.

Dell smartphone, eh?
Probably will run Windows. Does Windows Mobile get the BSOD? lol
My dad had a PocketPC thing and he said "it makes a better football than a phone." He would always throw it around the car and use a fork as a stylus in resturants. Then he got the iPhone.

Probably will be thicker then the encyclopedia.

Sorry for being so negative before the thing even comes out, but I have a strong opinion in these Windows vs. Apple things.

 

[gkarris]

Android?

Sell it for $299 UNLOCKED and compatible with most networks, then you might get Apple worried...

 

[SFStateStudent]

Gawd, who out there isn't the next "iPhone Killer?" You know what? You guys win; I'm giving away my 3G iPhones and buying a Dell smartphone...

 

[gjw4u]

Was it not also DELL, that was supposed to deliver the iPod competitor a while back?

 

[Dmac77]

So is it going to be 8" thick?

Don

 

[rdowns]

Android?

Sell it for $299 UNLOCKED and compatible with most networks, then you might get Apple worried...

Never happen. The money is in the agreement with ATT for Apple.

Reports say the iPhone costs Apple $175 to manufacture (and likely has gone down due to lower component prices and economies of scale) and the Storm costs RIM $203. You then have to add in research costs sales/marketing costs etc. Where would the money be for Dell to sell a phone at $299 with no further income stream?

 

[MatLane]

So many phones trying to take iPhone on

I really dont think it's going to happen

I think iPhone is a good year or so ahead of any other phone i dont care what anybody says!


ML

 

[rhett7660]

So many phones trying to take iPhone on

I really dont think it's going to happen

I think iPhone is a good year or so ahead of any other phone i dont care what anybody says!


ML

I agree. The only one I am really waiting to see is the Palm Pre. There seems to be sooo much build up behind it.

Dell, come on now.