Attention-grabbing rumors of a Dell smartphone began to surface this past January, and then again in February. Now, more than 2 months since the web-wide guessing game first began, there is fresh speculation regarding Dell’s secret handset.
Unfortunately, it’s probably not the kind of hype or publicity that Dell is hoping for. According to Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, Dell’s recent attempts to develop a competitive smartphone have been rejected by potential carriers due to an overall “lack of interest.”
Wu goes on to explain that Dell’s current prototypes (which include both WinMo and Android-powered devices) failed to offer any distinguishing features from the ever-growing field of smartphone competitors. He also noted that due to limited carrier subsidies, there would be very little room for Dell to sustain reasonable profit margins from the rumored handset(s).
On the bright side, Dell has apparently “gone back to the drawing board” in an effort to craft a more “distinct” smartphone. In light of Dell’s new found interest in design (see: Adamo), part of me wants to believe that Dell may just be able to pull off a decent if not attractive smartphone. On the other hand, it is Dell.
What do you think? Can Dell actually produce a worthwhile smartphone (the dPhone, perhaps?) that can seriously compete with Palm’s upcoming Pre, Apple’s pending iPhone 3.0, or any of the slew of feature-packed HTC handsets expected to drop later this year?
[via MarketWatch]
It is hard to launch a phone like this in this economy and given all of the choices out there. Unless it is innovative and differentiates itself from the rest of the market, this will continue to be a challenge.
That’s part of the strategy, they’re being responsable.
I called this when it first surfaced. Just like their last MP3 player, that Rob Enderle was advising them on, that never made it to market, this one is following suit.
No big surprise. Dell isn’t THAT stupid. They know when they have a piece of junk. Good for them they figure it out before it hits the market with a big thunk. Microsoft ought to take a few lessons (and Palm).
i was posting my thoughts and recommendations on a dell forum back in 06. at that time, i suggested they do something with smartphones (echoing many others). unfortunately, it seems that the forum went stagnant in 07-08 with the cell phone idea and i’m inclined to believe that if dell read those posts, then their designs are based upon 2-3 year old suggestions. that said, i still believe dell is chasing the wrong competitor: if hp’s profits have anything to say about the current state of the industry, dell should be gunning for hp territory, not apple. they’re not similar enough to apple and still have a reputation of “cheap corporate computers” to overcome.
This continues Dell’s streak of mediocrity, that they haven’t seemed to shake for awhile now. They need to focus on their flagging PC unit and not worry about branching into other stuff right now.
Their desktops are boring and dull so why would their smartphone be anything but boring and dull. I doubt it gets half the intrest of the iphone or palm pre.