Comments on: More apathy for a Dell smartphone

Without seeing the device, industry observers remain underwhelmed by what Dell could bring to the mobile computing market.

[lkrupp]

The problem with Dell these days is that the brand has been damaged so anything they produce will be met with skepticism. As this article states remember their last handheld device, the Dell Pocket DJ. Same goes for Microsoft and its rumored entry into the smartphone market. It's already being mocked as the "Zunephone". The cheap and good enough strategy doesn't appear to be working in the smartphone market at this time, possibly because smartphones require additional and relatively costly data plans to work. Therefore only those with some burnable cash are in the market (consumer) to buy one.

[geotopia]

While I disagree that Dell is a "damaged" brand, I do concur that Dell needs to be careful as they step out of their comfort zone because unlike PCs where they are value on GHz and GB, a mobile device is going to be judged more on it's "cool" factor. I forget the name of Dell's MP3 player (Axiom?) but Gateway tried and failed and even Gateway employees chided their own product, calling it the "gayPod" (no offense to the alternative lifestyle community, it's more a reference to a product not being able to gain mass appeal).

Dell can't just chase every opportunity that "seems" to be lucrative, but focus on where it can excel which is in medium and low priced reliable PCs.

If Dell wants to branch out, Michael should get on his knees and beg Job's forgiveness for his 1997 comments regarding the value of Apple and see if he can work out a licensing deal for Netbooks from Apple.

[jlt0x]

I like that Dell is trying to be a competitor. Maybe their 1st iteration of a smartphone won't be perfect (or too pretty), but if they actually do, I expect Dell to continue to update and be relevant.

I just want the Dell smartphone (w/Windows Mobile) to work like a Palm Pre & look more like an iPhone.

[SIGHUP]

?Same goes for Microsoft and its rumored entry into the smartphone market??
Microsoft has been in the smartphone market for 10 years. I have on in my pocket.

?The problem with Dell these days is that the brand has been damaged so anything they produce will be met with skepticism.? You have got to be kidding me. Dell has a very good reputation outside of ******* home user. Dell server are second to HP in running data centers.

[codynews]

Dell servers are just generic rackmount junk that people have been selling for 10 years. There is NOTHING that is innovative about any Dell servers.

[viper396]

@codynews. Exactly what innovation are you talking about? What innovation is really necessary for a rackmount server? Arguing that there is no innovation in a server is akin to saying that there is no innovation in a screwdriver. Sure, some can argue that some specialty screwdrivers are better then a plain old phillips but ultimately who the heck cares so long as it does the job.

Most servers sit on a rack in a room doing their job. Last I checked, a Dell server does it's job just as well as any other server. Innovation is pointless if few people actually need or want it.

[tech_crazy]

@viper396

Then you must not know anything about rackmount servers. I personally have not specfically used Dell's rack servers (used Sun, HP, IBM etc.) though and involved with designs of CPUs and systems that went into them). So if you think that there's little innovation in the rack space, you are grossly mistaken.

But from the PC space, Dell had little innovation than being a glorified white-box assembler. I own several Dell products including their Axim that I am a big fan of. It's a shame they closed that line.

[deannavincent]

You must work for Dell tech support!!! "******* home user" was exactly how I was treated by them!!! And I spent a lot of money on my top of the line M90 Precision workstation w/3 years of paid premium support to run my small business - yeah the market the Dell wanted sooo badly before and now craps on.

I won't buy a single Dell product again and I will tweet, post, blog, comment, and shout from the mountaintops about how poorly they treated me - and we home and small business owners add up. I'd sure hate to be a stockholder too - I spent hours on the phone being passed from mean jerk to mean jerk just trying to get a new power supply - I'm sure the amount those guys get paid far outweighs the price of the part I needed.

As it says in the story, the cell phones might sell in China, where they probably don't expect decent tech support anyway. Bye bye, Dell.

[SIGHUP]

@deannavincent

I apologize for the poor choice of words. I do not work at dell or in tech support, but I have worked with many computer manufactures. All the computer manufactures suck, some just suck less than others. I would have to agree that Dell tech support has got to be the worst.

[sharmajunior]

Presenting ......D Phone.

It is D phone to use in todays world. LOL

[als]

"Even the slightest misstep could undo the progress the company has made in turning around its business."

Oh Really! I didn't know that Dell has turned around its business. Do some more research and you will find that Dell has and continues to lose market share. That is not turning around its business.

[ahickey]

Think corporate and not consumer.
If you buy your servers and desktops from Dell then I expect you would get an amazing deal on the phones as well. Free Microsoft smartphones for your people in the field with support for the device provided under the same support contract as the rest of your infrastructure. One number, one contract, less pain for the organisation.

Sounds compelling to me.

[ballmerisanape]

It did in the 80s and 90s too... and people are obviously learning from that mistake. In the end.. low quality-stagnant technology will take more money/resources to support.

[Gambit642]

Dell doesn't have any real precedence in the original hardware or software development department. They buy from Intel, nVidia and Broadcom. Given the lack of experience...I wouldn't expect anything ground-breaking from them in the mobile market.

[viper396]

Your statement only proves you have no clue and no business judging what companies have experience in or not. There is a different between the companies that make and assemble the whole computer and the vendors who make the invidual parts and pieces that go into them.

Intel, nVidia, and Broadcom make chips and components. Computer companies, such as Dell, Apple, Sony, HP, etc. put them together to make a whole computer. There is significant inhouse engineering and design work that goes into many Dell, Sony, Apple, or HP motherboards and systems. They are not all built with off the shelf parts.

[monkeyfun14]

http://news.timtechs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/iphonecomponents-list.gif

iPhone component list not one damn Apple made part on it.

[BrianCage]

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http://www.stockozone.com/2009/04/swine-flu-complete-list-of-winning-and.html

[Remo_Williams]

This is what it would take for me to buy a Dell smartphone: making it.

Dell was the badge on the HTC-developed Axims, and those were easily the best PDAs at the time. Fastest processor available running at 624Mhz, separate GPU, CF card and SD support, Wifi, Bluetooth, ActiveSync, replaceable battery, flashable ROM. Unmatched. In fact, if Dell *only* dropped in a cellular radio into an Axim 51v I'd buy it. Given that in six years tech has gotten better, chipsets integrating functions and shrinking, a minor refresh of the Axim would sell like crazy.

Here's the ultimate smartphone, based on a Dell Axim x51v with a resistive screen -- not touch, multitouch is bull at this form-factor and no logical argument exists to the contrary -- and WinMo, because corporate adoption is almost guaranteed if you support Microsoft's Office suite out-of-box:
-"Snapdragon" Qualcomm QSD8650
-1Gb of RAM
-WiFi b/g
-Bluetooth 3.0 with lots of profiles supported
-SDHC support
-CF card support : think VERY LARGE STORAGE
-removable battery, supporting large extended batteries
-cellular radio support, including 3G

I would probably not add a GPS radio unless they could manage it without killing a battery in thirty minutes; I'd lean on an SD card GPS or even a Bluetooth puck. Still, radio management is a tough problem to solve.

Build me that.

-Remo

[gerrrg]

Considering how quickly they entered then exited the PDA biz, I'd say that unless they have a strong commitment to staying with it, they should just ignore it.

[xenophod]

Bingo! Many Axim users will remember how they walked away from the market and left customers with an orphaned piece of hardware. IMHO the only reason Dell is looking at this is Michael Dells' dislike for Steve Jobs... something called jealousy. Dell is not a company that I look as being an innovator, they copy products and tweak for changes but they don't innovate. They are about mass production and cost reduction.

[monkeyfun14]

How exactly do you innovate in the market they are in?

They are basically a assembler.

I hate how innovate is thrown around so much eventually you run out of things to innovate on a product.

Its not like there is a endless supply of ideas that have not been done.

[hammeroftruth]

@monkeyfun14

You innovate by changing the look and feel of the thing. Sure a computer is a computer. They all have practically the same chips and boards, but the look and feel is what sells. Like cars. They all have 4 wheels, an engine, transmission and a steering wheel, but they all don't work the same.

Actually the more you innovate, the better you get. You go back to things that you made that weren't ready for the public, and fix them so that they are. HP and Apple can do it, even Intel has a contest every year for innovating and features cool prototypes of computers that if they were built, they would be on par or even ahead of Apple's designs somewhat.
Dell is trying by changing the looks of their products with color, but that is so early 2000. They move too slow. Now they have talent by sniping a few key people from Apple. It's just a question whether or not they can pull it off before they go under

[FearNo1]

Cell phone market is already too crowded. Dell does not stand a chance.

[viper396]

I'm sure people said that when Apple started making cell phones. So long as people are into the stupid habit of upgrading their phone every year or two there is always an opportunity for someone to sneak in with a better phone.

[FearNo1]

Not really relevant when it comes to apple. Apple has a loyal following. Apple is also known for innovation and style. People were eagerly waiting for the marriage of the ipod and cell phone. It made perfect sense. Who really wants a phone from dell, other than Michael Dell?

[monkeyfun14]

@Fear

Dell has a loyalty base as well believe it or not. Some people like their products.

[inachu1]

If a company could just make a cell phone that could play World of Warcraft......
Then I would not be so bored when on the go.

[Synthmeister]

Not sure if it's bogus but there is a video floating around on the web purporting to be WW on an iPhone.

[Synthmeister]

The question is, whose OS would they use and how would they make it unique? A couple of years ago they could have competed on the merits of the device itself. But now they would need a great way of syncing it with computers, playing all kinds of media, an app store, a great developers store, a nice peripherals market, etc.

I think their only chance would be to buy Palm.

[monkeyfun14]

They can't afford palm

[techie_guy4]

you guys think dell can make smartphone on par with apple, blackberry.. dream on.. I already know the next 4 phones that I want to buy and just waiting for my current blackberry to die .. lol..

[hotsnot]

If they launch a phone with the Dell label on it, it's doomed to fail. Cellphones are lifestyle items and nobody wants to have their lifestyle associated with a boring brand. No matter how hard they try, Dell = boring.
They do have a very good option though:
They own Alienware who have managed to remain relatively independent and have retained their cool factor as a maker of high end gaming PCs and laptops.
Dell should use that brand to launch a slickly designed Android phone with enough oomph to run some decent games and make that their differentiator. They could use their famous supply chain clout to keep costs down, but they'd have to allow the Alienware guys to own the design.

[RompStar_420]

I never liked Dells laptops, they were cheaply assembled, things break too easily and sometimes the way the heat was dealt with created problems with overheating and crashing, the Dell 5300 that I owned was always having overheating issues, never again, switched to Apple.

I always liked the IBM laptops.

[monkeyfun14]

IBM laptops were always underpowered though as if they were using specs from machines 3 years old.

[jd_mayo]

@RompStar
Thanks for that bit of insight. Insight that has absolutely nothing to do with the article at hand. Good job!

[quantumuniverse]

"As it says in the story, the cell phones might sell in China, where they probably don't expect decent tech support anyway. Bye bye, Dell."

yes, Dell would just love it. Sell some phones and don't even need to set up little support when all the info could be put online, and in the largest cell phone market in the world