Michael Dell didn’t see tablets coming; thinks Android tablets will beat Apple’s iPad

15 years ago

“Michael Dell doesn’t want to talk about personal computers anymore,” Ben Worthen reports for The Wall Street Journal.

MacDailyNews Take: Does that include not talking about what he’d do if he were running Apple?

Worthen reports, “The 46-year-old has been acquiring high-end technologies—such as storage and security systems—that Dell can sell to businesses to lessen its reliance on selling low-margin desktop and laptop computers. Dell bought services provider Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion in 2009.”

“After some shaky years, the Round Rock, Texas, company’s results have improved recently. The company has stabilized its PC business,” Worthen reports. “That said, it has made little headway in smartphones or with its Streak line of tablet computers. Dell shares are off about 35% since Mr. Dell returned as CEO in 2007.”

WSJ: You’ve been back as CEO for four years now. What has surprised you the most about the evolution of the tech industry in that time?

Dell: I’d say [the] rapid rise of the tablet. I didn’t completely see that coming. Tablets aren’t really new, in the sense that the tablet PC idea’s been around for a while. Obviously, more recent products have been much more successful. What’s interesting [is that] business users are not going to give up smartphones. Won’t give up PCs. So now you have a PC, you have a smartphone and you have a tablet. Sounds pretty good. Industry growth. What’s also interesting is Apple’s great success with the iPhone. Android comes along, even greater success. I think you’ll see the same thing on tablets, with enormous numbers of Android tablets with Dell certainly playing a role in that as well.

WSJ: Do you think Android tablets will outpace iPads moving forward?

Dell: Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But again, if you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, ‘What is that?’ And now there are more Android phones than iPhones. I don’t see any reason why the same won’t occur with Android tablets.

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Clueless as usual. Smartphones require carriers. With Apple stuck to AT&T as the sole U.S. carrier for so long, Android phones got a toehold among those unwilling to switch carriers. Some people obviously settled for pretend iPhones. That tide is reversing already now that Verizon has the iPhone. As contracts lapse, more and more U.S. smartphone users will go for Apple iPhones. (Android settlers aren’t the type of people to pay early termination fees, either, so Apple will have to wait for them.)

iPad, of course, does not suffer that artificial impediment to market share nor will Android tablets enjoy that artificial boost to market share. The iPad WiFi-only models are carrier-free and the 3G models are at both major U.S. carriers. That Mr. SIDAGTMBTTS doesn’t see that blatant fact is unsurprising. Somebody hold our Take up really close to the tip of his nose and maybe he’ll be able to see it then.