Tag Archives: Streak

Dell: iPad “Shiny Device” Not Designed for Enterprise


KremeA personal pet peeve of mine is the sales tactic that involves bashing the competition in an effort to make your own product look good. If any of you have shopped for a car you will know what I mean. Instead of heralding the features that make their product extraordinary, the focus is on insulting the other options available to you and making them appear inferior in any (every) way.

Dell is becoming famous for these class-lacking maneuvers, trumpeted loudly by their Australian managing director, Joe Kreme. According to Kreme, businesses are foolish to choose iPads.

At a media and analyst briefing in Sydney, Kreme went on to explain that, “People might be attracted to some of these shiny devices but technology departments can’t afford to support them. If you are giving a presentation and something fails on the software side it might take four days to get it up and running again. I don’t think this race has been run yet.”

Four days? His remarks do little more than make him look foolish (and more than a little bitter with the utter failure and eventual demise of the Dell Streak tablets along with their netbook lineup). Not only has the race started, unless Microsoft pulls a rabbit out of their hat it seems that the race for corporate mobile device market share is nearly over.

Much to the surprise of many analysts who made predictions early in the tablet game, businesses are eagerly (and happily) adopting iOS-based devices; and if reports (that seem to be well hidden from Dell executives) are to be believed, support and management costs are actually decreasing as a result.

So Mr. Kreme are you trying to tell us that the new Dell mantra is: “If you can’t beat ‘em, bash ‘em?”.

» Related posts: Dell Exec Says – Wait till we launch our Windows 8 Tablets, will Rival iPad So Long Dell Streak 7 Tablet Dell Inc. Announces Entry In The Tablet Market In 2012

Dell Exec Says – Wait till we launch our Windows 8 Tablets, will Rival iPad


Game on! The new iPad 3 just went on sale Friday and the competition has already gone on the defense.

Specifically, Dell executives are promising a new product that will come out swinging at Apple’s ultra-popular tablet.

Previously, the company attempted inroads in the market with its Streak tablet (pictured), which was based on Google’s Android operating system. Although the 5-inch tablet, which was widely criticized for functionality issues,  is still available through third-party retailers such as Amazon, Dell is no longer selling it on its site.

Despite Apple’s dominance in the field, says Dell’s chief commercial officer Steve Felice, the tablet market is still anyone’s game–and the company is betting that its current toehold in the office may give it the upper hand among corporations that are seeking to integrate tablets into an system already filled with Windows products such as desktops, laptops and smartphones.

“We come at the market in a different way … We are predominantly a company that has a great eye on the commercial customer who also wants to be a consumer.” Felice said in an interview with Reuters. “In the areas where we come at the market, we think we are a coveted brand.”

A forthcoming Dell tablet would likely utilize the best of the Windows 8 operating platform, Felice said. Windows 8 is expected on the market later this year and will use a touch interface that’s compatible across a variety of products. “We’re very encouraged by the touch capability we are seeing in the beta versions of Windows 8,” Felice said.

Dell, currently the world’s third-biggest computer behind HP and Lenovo, hopes to cash in on one of its rival’s strength–mainly the notion that many workers prefer the slim stylishness and portability of Apple’s signature products to their bulky, often inconvenient work computers, Felice said.

The new Dell tablet, however, isn’t expected for several months. “We have a road map for tablets that we haven’t announced yet. You’ll see some announcements.. for the back half of the year,” he said.

The company is betting on its existing relationship with businesses to give it an edge in IT departments whose workers are, perhaps, tired of trying to incorporate employees personal devices–i.e, iPads–into the corporate infrastructure.

“On the commercial side there are a lot of concerns about security, interoperability, systems and device management, and I think Dell is in the best position to meet those,” Felice said.

And, Felice said, the current iPad falls short when it comes to its processor and typing capabilities. “When people put their computer to the side and take their iPad with them to travel, you see a lot of compromises being made,” he said. “We don’t think that this market is closed off in any way.”

[via Reuters]

» Related posts: Dell Inc. Announces Entry In The Tablet Market In 2012 So Long Dell Streak 7 Tablet Windows 8 Tablets Reportedly won’t Challenge iPad Pricing

Michael Dell: Android tablets will overtake iPad

Android logo swallowing Apple logoMichael Dell is bullish on Android tablets [registration required]. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published today, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dell Inc. predicted Android tablets would one day overtake Apple's iPad as the leading platform in the tablet market. Dell cited Android's success in the smartphone market to support his theory.

"If you look at 18 months ago, Android phones were like, 'What is that?' And now there are more Android phones than iPhones," Dell said. "I don't see any reason why the same won't occur with Android tablets."

At the moment, Android faces the Herculean task of catching up to the device that defined a new class of consumer electronic. Unlike the iPhone, which entered an already healthy mobile phone marketplace with well-established rivals, the iPad set the benchmark for tablet computing. A recent report from IDC suggests the iPad represents 83 percent of the rapidly growing tablet market. IDC expects Apple to continue its dominance by winning up to 80 percent of tablet sales in 2011.

The iPad's most well-reviewed rival, the Motorola Xoom, has done little to sink Apple's staggering dominance despite its flashy marketing campaign and tablet-specific flavor of Android. One estimate from Deutsche Bank suggests Motorola has sold only 100,000 units of its flagship tablet. Similarly, Samsung has been disappointed with sales of its Galaxy Tab and its sales of about 2 million units.

Dell, of course, offers its own family of tablets called the Streak. The 5- and 7-inch tablets, powered by Android, were met with generally negative reviews and are widely considered flops. Dell is expected to release its 10-inch Streak Pro, in both Windows and Android varieties, later this year. Although Dell claims to be doubling down on Android, the CEO, who also expressed being surprised by the sudden rise of the iPad, may also be hedging his bets by releasing tablets on two competing software platforms.

[via CNET]

Michael Dell: Android tablets will overtake iPad originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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