14 DAY TRIAL // Yep, it's true. Dell is no longer developing and offering Windows Mobile powered handhelds and has stopped selling its Axim line. Dell has also announced that it's currently not planning to release any other products of this type in the future.
"The Axim X51 family is no longer being offered, and we have no plans for a follow-on product at this time," Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden said in an e-mail. Camden also stated that the company is in fact selling handhelds from other manufacturers on its website, including devices with GPS support and smartphones.
Dell's first Axim Pocket PC was introduced during 2002 and aimed to provide all the functionality of devices of that type at a more affordable price. In the years to come, Dell expanded its Axim family by releasing handsets that included Bluetooth, WiFi and other appealing features. Their latest release, the X51, was unveiled close to the end of 2005 and represented an appealing Pocket PC offering sporting a lower price tag than its competition.
Unfortunately, the smartphone market proves to be tougher as each day passes by and it's mandatory to bring innovation with almost every newly released product. The numbers of newly released Pocket PCs has greatly increased lately, with manufacturers constantly battling over who offers the best, most feature-packed handset.
While there were several rumors involving new Dell handsets, including a gaming handset that some people are still expecting Dell to announce, the chances of us ever getting to see such a handset released seem to be quite slim at this point, especially since the company gave up a line of handsets that was rather popular among customers.