Dell's first cellphone prototypes said to "lack differentiation"
By Darren Murph 
posted March 21st 2009 10:33AM
posted March 21st 2009 10:33AM
Remember when AT&T's Ralph de la Vega got caught up in the middle of mixed words over a supposed Dell smartphone at MWC? Turns out, maybe that cat has seen a cellular prototype from the labs of Round Rock, but given his displeasure with it, he brushed it off as no huge deal. A fresh report from Barron's asserts that Dell actually has shown off both WinMo and Android-powered handsets to an undisclosed amount of mobile carriers, but essentially, everyone met them with a gigantic "meh" and simply stated that the attempts "lacked differentiation." That said, it seems that Dell's not being deterred by the naysayers, and it has even led some analysts to guess that the company may pick up one of those other struggling cellphone makers in order to get some of that "differentiating" juice. It strikes us sort of funny, though -- since when did differentiation really matter to carriers?[Via mocoNews]
Dell, if the carries brushed you off, just sell it unlocked.
What's with Dell jumping into cellphones now... I know they had some WinMo bricks in the past, but I thought they'd put that in the past for good.
Some people are saying they're trying to copy Apple - first the Adamo (Air copy), and now this.
Well, I think Dell should just stick to what they're good at, which is pumping out cheap computers (laptops, netbooks included) for the mass market. Overall PC market is going down, but that's not necessarily Dell's fault. It's the economy! I'm sure consumers will start buying when the economy lightens up (if their product is good, obviously).
If they really wanted to do something, they'd improve their customer service. O, and invest heavily on cloud computing and utility computing, because that's the way of the future.
When I worked for Dell and as a tech support rep, we had an exec come through that had The Fly (thats its codename). He had an early prototype and it looked amazing for its time (back in 2006/2007) Ran an early version of WinMo 6, Nice VGA touch screen, round corners and a keyboard (overallthink HTC Touch Pro). Nowadays it just looks generic by todays phones, but back then it was awesome.
Dell should make a phone from a functionality stand point, take notes from japan dell!
Carriers always screw up good smartphones. AT&T should talk. Their 3G and voice networks are crap.
Dell should write their own mobile operating system with strange UI paradigms, weird icons and random colors. That would easily get them into the "differenciated" carrier lineup.
"Dude, you're gettin' an iDell!"
1. I don't think Dell should even be in this market.
2. If they want to, they better go with Android. It makes more sense than waiting for Windows Mobile 7 to come out.
"and it has even led some analysts to guess that the company may pick up one of those other struggling cellphone makers in order to get some of that "differentiating" juice. It strikes us sort of funny, though -- since when did differentiation really matter to carriers?"
Palm is desperate to be taken over, with quarter after quarter of massive losses. Dell to the rescue? Hilarious!!
Oh, that will make SJ soooo happy...
Meh. And you are telling me something new from any other new product that Dell has released?. All of Dell's printers are just rebranded Lexmarks....until just recently. dell creates a something boring and bland when they jump into the market to establish themselves. Then they start tweaking their stuff later on.
Sorry to say this , but dell phone would tank on att. Recently att store manager stated that iPhone continues to be highest selling handset in USA for att. In other words if priced at same price ,$99 . What handset would an att customer choose dell phone or iPhone.,??
Just look at lg vu only $49, but yet people choose iPhone for $199. When will we see the true iphonekiller , that will cause iPhone sales to plummet ???when????
I respect dell, but smartphones . You better off not overstepping your boundaries. Stick to making $500 laptops. So far no brand has had extreme success besides apple in making a computer and a successful smartphone,. Am I wrong,,?
Samsung? Sony? Not sure but these companies have sold far more phones and models in one quarter than Apple has sold since it released the iPhone..
I see that I was wrong about Sony or Samsung... I thought thei smartphone business was more robust than it is or has been. My apologies...
Samsung's Omnia has been a huge success in Europe!
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Who the hell do they have for there focus group, its so general thats why there lost and if its not that they might have alot of old school people at dell, meaning they should consider hiring the next generation of young talent at dell
There are mindless fanboys on both sides of the fence (Apple / Dell). I am a long time Dell corporate employee and I will tell you one thing... Dell is comprised of the biggest Apple fanboys. They cannot wait for the next Apple computer to ship so they can try to emulate Apple. But we (they) were thrown a huge curveball when Apple released the iPhone because that is not a market they were in. We (They) could not wait for the iPhone presentation to finish so we could brainstorm the next Dell product DellPhone (not the name of course). Since that day back in 2007 they had been feverishly trying to duplicate the iPhone's functionality, but there was a HUGE problem... the OS. Dell does not make an OS so they had to rely on Microsoft. Microsoft believed (by their true visionaries) that the iPhone was a gimmick and it would flop. I mean, Steve Balmer said it himself "I can't afford an iPhone". Boy that guy continues to show that he is no visionary, he is just like Michael Dell, great at operations.
Getting back to the topic. Apple does well because like it or not, they innovate. Dell reinvented the PC purchasing model way back when and became very successful. Apple innovates design of their PCs and their OS and continues to have success. Apple enters stale markets and livens them up with fresh ideas and great products. While Dell prefers to take a real business "safe" approach to new markets. Their motto should be "we'll enter a new market and duplicate others' hard work and effort, and sell at bargain basement prices to get marketshare." That's the American business way. The awesome thing is the fact that the american consumer is changing and rewarding the innovators and the companies that are willing to take a chance on Design and ease of use.
When the iphone first came out it was far too expensive that is why it has decreased in price since initial launch. At Launch price it was selling to well so Balmer's comment was spot on.
*wasn't selling too well