14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that HP decided to break off from the PC market was bound to make at least some factions happy, and it looks like Dell is very much among those that feel this development will benefit them.
For those that do not remember, HP not so long ago said that it plans to either spin off or sell its entire PC business.
Some were quick to speculate that Samsung might end up buying said division, though this was subsequently denied.
The fact that Dell will benefit from these events has been, on the other hand, very much confirmed.
Dell acknowledges HP's reasons, like the fact that mobile computers, especially ultraportables, will be growing in shipment levels by a great deal while desktops are losing ground.
Nonetheless, he does not believe that the desktop PC and all other computing installations have any chance of disappearing any time soon.
"You can find a press release from IBM where they are talking about the post PC era in 1999. [...] Around that time, the industry sold about 100 million personal computers a year. So that was the beginning of the post-PC era,”said Michael Dell, chief executive officer and chairman of Dell, in an interview with CRN web-site.
“Well, now it's 2011 and there is about 440 million PCs sold per year. So that means that the post-PC era has been better for the PC than whatever came before the post-PC era. [...] How many tablets are going to be sold this year? You hear 40 million, 50 million. [...] It's nowhere near the 440 million PCs that will be sold this year or the [1.5 billion] installed base," said Mr. Dell.
As a side effect, Dell believes that HP can only lose server and enterprise market share once it spins off its PC unit, and as this happens, its own opportunities will increase in number.
“We are committed to the PC business. We are committed to a broad range of solutions,” Mr. Dell said.
“[HP's withdrawal from the PC business] is a great opportunity for our channel partners first and foremost. It gives us a significant advantage.”