“An equity research note discussing a possible Dell bid for cell phone market share is the latest sign of a company shifting its strategy to better compete against Apple and others,” Zach Spear reports for AppleInsider.
“Kaufman Brothers’ Shaw Wu suggested an announcement could come as soon as 3GSM or the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona in mid-February,” Spear reports. “He wrote, ‘From our supply chain checks, Dell has been studying the cell phone market and talking with component suppliers and manufacturers for nearly two years now.'”
“Wu cited his sources as saying a launch is now ‘closer to reality than before’ and that he sees the PC maker entering the cell phone market as ‘inevitable.’ The analyst also noted that Dell’s president of consumer business Ron Garriques joined the company in early 2007 after gaining “considerable cell phone expertise” with Motorola,” Spear reports.
“Wu believes Dell should consider acquiring a software maker and develop its own operating system to better stand out from a large segment of the market all running either Windows Mobile, Symbian, or Android. Palm, of course, recently announced its new webOS,” Spear reports. “This would be a break from the past when Dell’s Axim was a line of Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC personal data assistants, discontinued in April 2007. Another Dell smaller form factor hardware device, the Dell DJ music player, was shelved in 2006.”
Full article here.
If this rumor is true, perhaps Michael Dell has his sights set on Palm? Or Moto? If so (Palm, Moto or some other mess), Mikey’s grasp on reality is even more tenuous than we suspected – and that’s really saying something.
I hope they call it the Ditty! Great comedic potential…
Dell should close up shop and divide whatever money they have and give it to their shareholders.
Knowing Dell, they will rebadge some existing Windows Mobile smartphone as sell it as their own.
What will it run? What will it run? Android? WinMobil? Or will Dell do something truly revolutionary (for them at least) and develop their own Linux based mobil OS?
This is not a good sign for Dell. Just when they most need to focus their energies on their core business they are scattering their energies on creating new divisions and using dubious expertise from an escapee for Motorola who is no longer a shining example of success in the cell phone market. LOL!
What “considerable cell phone expertise” did Ron Garriques gain at Motorola? This is the guy who put out the Razr shortly after he took over the mobile unit (the creation of which he had nothing to do with), ran it into the ground as the rest of the company fell with it and then jumped ship. The only thing he’s done throughout his career is demonstrate his terrible management skills.
Perhaps it will be called the Dell Enderlo.
Macaday
Good one!
Rebranded hardware & (wait for it) Rebranded Android. Watch the media wet themselves over this innovative iPhne killer.
They are all so far behind, and don’t get it at all. They still think it’s about cellphones.
I think Dell must have brought someone in from the Zune marketing team.
“All we have to do is offer Turd and Pink as colors and we can sell it for the same price as Apple.”
As if somehow allowing users to personalize their computer puts them on par with Apple, ignoring the build quality, customer service and industrial design.
This is great. I’m sure it will be as successful as Dell’s foray into the MP3 player market.
It really seems that all Dell can come up with is “Hey, somebody else is making money selling X. We could get X manufactured for us, and we are big, and can get a volume discount, so we can also make money selling X.
If Dell makes a phone, it will be not just another SmartPhone, but the world’s first DumbPhone unless Microsoft beats them to the punch with the ZunePhone that Steve “the Embalmer” has apparently nixed.
OSX (on small devices) mucho > everyone else.
Sorry game, set, match.
Until small device makers can pony up a OS as robust as OSX then; NO DICE.
They are F’cked
Dell is slave to MSFT. With the Asure contract Dell would think twice about going with non-WinMo handset. it’s actually the only way it can compete, if that. On every aspect it is far behind Palm, RIM, Nokia, or even Motorola – would they dare to acquire Moto?
It’d be stupid to write another OS, given there are at least 6 out there already. It’s far more likely that Garriques, given his connection would opt to choose to buy Moto, so he can run it. Of course, they’d probably still use WinMo, and keep Android as a backup if WinMo7 sucks.
I think flailing companies tell these stories about competing in hot markets purely to keep their boards and shareholders from panicking. I would be surprised if it ever happens.
Welcome, Dell. Seriously.
HAAAAHAHAHAHHHAAAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAA!!!!
Let us all encourage Dell to invest princely sums of money into this endeavor.
BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-!!!!!
*sniff*
Oh, man. That was so friggin’ funny. Dell with a smartphone. That’s a good one.
MDN Word: “really” as in, “Are they really that stupid?”
@Greg L
Right on!
And may we supply Dell with their new battle cry?
Remember the DJ!
OMFGWTFROFLMAO Dell?!?!
Dude, GO FOR IT. Spend EVERY LAST DOLLAR you’ve got, and afterwards? Break up the company, sell your stock and give the money back to the shareholders.
I cannot WAIT to see Dell-cum-WinCE get plowed into the salted earth with such a mind blowing waste of revenue.
If Mr. Garriques does to Dell what him and his MOT ass-clowns did to the wireless and iDEN divisions at Moto…
Dell will not survive this.
just my $0.02
First, I can’t believe Dell would develop their own OS for a cell phone. Between Microsoft, Apple, Palm, Nokia/Symbian, and Google, I can’t see Dell making much of a dent if they tried to do the whole thing themselves.
They could license Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, but pretty much everybody is waiting for Windows Mobile 7 (the next release) which isn’t expected until late 2009, from what I understand. So that wouldn’t work well.
Apple isn’t licensing iPhone OS X. I don’t know if Palm is licensing webOS.
So that pretty much leaves Symbian and Android. Symbian is a maybe–I’m not much of an expert on it, alas. Android would probably be a better fit.
The question is: Can Dell make a phone which is better than what is currently available, or will they plan on “making it up in volume”?
Spend EVERY LAST DOLLAR you’ve got
Dell already does that on production.
Mikey, remember your innovation of cutting all margins? Kinda makes for a bitch when it’s time to re-invest in yourself….
is the latest sign of a company shifting its strategy to better compete against Apple and others
Didn’t we hear of another shift in Dell strategy just a few weeks ago?
And a few weeks before that?
And a few weeks before that?
And a few weeks before that?
…???