During the Dell World conference in Austin, Texas, Dell president of global operations Jeff Clarke told attendees that the company will not enter the smartphone hardware business. Instead, Dell will provide smartphone solutions, and serve as the preferred BYOD provider of solutions in the marketplace.
Dell hasn't been all that successful in the mobile device segment. The Dell Aero smartphone was considered as a "huge disappointment" while its Venue line-up reportedly "fell short of the competition", thus the company threw in the U.S. smartphone towel earlier this year. What also didn't help was the Dell Streak tablets that didn't win customers over from Team Android and Team Apple.
What Dell has in mind now is to team up with its partners and build its own BYOD platform for enterprise clients using its own assets gained through acquisitions and in-house development. It will also press on in developing devices that are "more secure, more manageable, more reliable and durable" via business productivity services and enterprise-ready solutions.
Clarke told conference attendees that Dell remains optimistic about the PC sector despite its decline, that the company still has long-term prospects. ZDNet reports that Dell has taken an 11-percent drop in revenue year-over-year, and that the company's PC business has been hit the hardest. Dell's worldwide shipments have fallen nearly 10-percent while its market share in the PC sector has fallen 14-percent.
"I look at the middle class as it grows over the next 20 years from 1.8 billion people to 4.9 billion people and the opportunity for PCs there," he said.
The opportunity is the blurring line between personal and professional devices as more and more companies are allowing personal devices to access their networks, aka BYOD. Thus the best way to get a foot in the door is to develop Windows-based tablets and touch-based Windows PCs which can be used at home or in the office.
Currently Dell offers the XPS 12-inch convertible Windows 8-based Ultrabook, starting at $1199. There's also the XPS 10-inch Windows RT tablet starting at $499, and the Latitude 10-inch tablet for business with Windows 8 Pro and a starting price of $649. All three seemingly acknowledge that there's not only a need for BYODs, but a need to move away from the traditional desktop environment due to consumer demand.
