Dell sticks with Android despite mobile failures
Backs Android and Windows 8, hits out at HP's webOS strategy, but still failing to make mobile impact
Published: 18 August, 2011
READ MORE: Dell | OS | Tablet | Android
Dell has made a slow start in tablets, and recently cancelled its hybrid slate/phone, the 5-inch Streak. But that did not stop CEO Michael Dell from hitting out at PC arch-rival Hewlett-Packard, which is promoting its own webOS as a platform for everything from tablets to cars.
Dell said his firm was still fully committed to Android, despite Google's plan to acquire Motorola, and would also support the forthcoming Windows 8, which will span PCs and mobile devices. "I don't think beyond those two that there are viable alternatives that make sense," Dell said. "So there's a lot of other noise out there in the market that I don't think will amount to much of anything."
This was a clear criticism of webOS, whose own impact on tablets has been slight so far, with channels slashing the price of the HP TouchPad amid weak sales. However, the operating system that HP acquired with Palm has a remit that goes well beyond slates and aims to be embedded in all kinds of cloud connected gadgets in future. HP recently indicated that it was in talks with makers of in-car and in-flight systems and home appliances.
Some analysts also believed Dell was hitting out at RIM and its own tablet OS, QNX. However, while the PlayBook has also given Apple virtually no sleepless nights, there is a renewed surge of speculation that an acquirer could target RIM, both for its software assets and its still impressive smartphone base. And Dell is being earmarked as a prime candidate.
Dell told a conference audience: "Having Android with a stronger ability to exhaust patent claims against it probably sets up an interesting competitive dynamic. We're still quite interested in Android. I'll also tell that you our early work on Windows 8 on the tablet side looks to be pretty encouraging."
Earlier this week, Dell's stock slumped when the firm lowered its revenue forecasts for the year, citing weak demand, outside its strong server business. Despite its huge impact on the PC industry, Dell has serially failed to repeat its disruptive effect in other devices. Its consumer devices unit saw revenues fall 3% year-on-year in its last quarter, despite new launches. However, the division is significant, accounting for 19% of Dell's total sales. Dell is seeing the unit's backbone products, affordable laptops and PCs, being threatened on two sides - by tablets and smartphones on one hand and by low cost white label manufacturers on the other. And the US firm has failed to fill that hole with its own compelling mobile products.
Analyst Shaw Wu at Sterne, Agee & Leach told Bloomberg that he believes 45% of Dell's business is "vulnerable to Apple" iPads and MacBooks.
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