Yesterday morning we came across several reports, which suggested that Dell was planning to phase out its XPS desktops and focus solely on Alienware.
A little research told us that the Wall Street Journal had kicked the rumour mill into overdrive with a report claiming that from as early as next month Dell was planning on phasing out four of its XPS high-end gaming systems to give the company’s Alienware products a little extra breathing room.
Alongside these claims the Journal also said that a complete design revamp was part of Dell’s plans to try and catch up with HP and VoodooPC sales.
We were a little sceptical of the rumours when we got wind of the whole thing. Dell had just announced (on the 1st of May 2008) the latest addition to the XPS family, the XPS 730 H2C. We wondered what would make them decide to pull the XPS line when they were still actively pushing what the press release dubbed “one of the most advanced gaming platforms on the planet”. We contacted Dell but didn’t receive any reply.
The Dell blog this morning shows an interesting post, which confirms Dell wants to expand its focus on Alienware but categorically denies the company has plans to phase out any of the XPS systems.
“Dell XPS and Alienware are both great brands – arguably the greatest brands in PC gaming – and both will live on. But we are going to expand our focus on Alienware. We are going to invest like crazy in product development, design and engineering to propel Alienware as the premier gaming brand in the future. We are integrating the best gaming product development, engineering and design teams in the industry — Alienware and XPS — and this all-star lineup will be supported by a worldwide sales and marketing organization.”
“XPS gaming systems will remain an important part of our gaming product portfolio. We don’t plan an early phase-out of these systems as the WSJ incorrectly stated, and in fact will continue to refresh them to keep them on the front edge of gaming.”
So the XPS 720 H2C lives on, starting at a base price of $5,999.
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