14 DAY TRIAL // We already reported that Dell was another personal computer maker that announced plans to enter the smartphone market this year. And while the company was expected to come to the market with its first such device sometime in September 2009, it seems that we're not going to see that happen after all.
On the other hand, it seems that Dell already came up with prototypes for both Windows Mobile and Android-based smartphones, which it presented to a series of mobile phone carriers, at least this is what Barron's reports that Shaw Wu, Kaufman Bros. analyst, has said.
The company's smartphone prototypes haven't been received as well as expected, says Shaw Wu. The problem is that carriers rejected the handsets on account of the fact that they “lack differentiation,” which devices coming from industry players like HTC, Nokia, Samsung or other makers do.
Even so, not all hope is lost in the end. The computer maker is determined to bring to the market smartphones that would be well received by both operators and end-users, so it will continue to work on designing and re-designing its devices, or at least one of them, so that it would “likely involve vertical integration of some sort, including software and/or services.”
Dell's plans of coming to the market with a successful smartphone design include “making acquisitions,” which would mean that we might hear, in the near future, that the computer maker has purchased one or two companies.
It’s a common fact that many computer makers have announced plans to enter the smartphone market, and we already spotted devices released by Toshiba, Acer or even Dell in the PDA area, so the company is also expected to succeed in its new attempt after all. It might not be that long before we hear that it has successfully convinced carriers to add its smartphone to their offerings.