According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Dell will begin phasing out its XPS line of high-end desktop gaming PCs from the beginning of June.
Dell’s XPS line is comprised of four models and can cost from $1,199 up to more than $7K.
The report claimed that XPS sales were eating into the market share of Dell’s subsidiary Alienware and said the new strategy is part of Dell’s broader turnaround effort.
Last year Dell fell behind rival HP in PC sales and obviously, touting two different lines of gaming machines wasn’t doing them any favours when it came to profit. Dell has said it will phase out the XPS and focus on what it feels is its premium line. The report also hints that we’ll soon see some new designs for Alienware based on new materials that go beyond the traditional Alienware design.
Dell acquired Alienware in March of 2006 however Alienware continues to develop and market it’s own products whilst leveraging the financing and purchasing power of Dell. Prior to the acquisition Alienware was one of the main competitors for the XPS.
The announcement comes as quite the surprise given that it wasn’t too long ago that the world was introduced to the XPS 730 H2C. The company only officially announced the machine at the beginning of the month so we’re wondering what it is that made them decide to pull the XPS line just a few weeks after the launch of the latest addition to the family, a machine Dell is describing as “one of the most advanced gaming platforms on the planet”.
Either way if you’re a fan of XPS you should probably get ready to say your goodbyes because starting June, it looks like it’s all Alienware.