Dell's Windows 8 tablets will apparently leverage the company’s experience in security and interoperability to challenge the iPad, according to an executive.
Dell wants to
pull an Apple in the tablet market.
We have a
road map for tablets that we havent announced yet, Dell chief commercial
officer Steve Felice told Reuters March 16. We dont think that this
market is closed off in any way. Those announcements will apparently come in
the second half of 2012, suggesting a holiday release for whatever Dell has
tucked up its collective sleeve.
Dell will
concentrate its tablet efforts on Windows 8, Microsofts upcoming operating
system also due later in the year. Although Apples iPad has made steady
inroads into the enterprise, Dell apparently believes that its experience in
areas such as security and interoperability will allow it to claim the
allegiances of a significant number of businesses.
When people
put their computer to the side and take their iPad with them to travel, you see
a lot of compromises being made, Felice added. For months, Microsoft has also
been advocating Windows 8 as a no compromises operating system, one that will
marry a lightweight touch-centric interface with the features and powers of a
traditional OS.
At the moment,
Dells efforts are focused in the PC realm, with the company joining others in
the Intel-backed push behind Ultrabooks. Those super-slim laptops, which boast
stronger specs than netbooks, are viewed by many in the industry as one way for
non-tablet companies to gain a piece of the mobility market.
That being
said, Dell has made a run at the tablet market before. The company originally
loaded Android onto a line of Streak tablets, which failed to excite the
marketplace in the same way as the iPad. The original 5-inch Streak suffered
something of an identity crisis, with many reviewers asking whether it was a
large smartphone or a small tablet. Dell then issued the 7-inch Streak, only to
stop selling it (along with the 5-inch edition) by December 2011.
For Dell, the
rise of tablets has presented a particular conundrum. For several quarters,
analysts have debated over whether the popularity of mobile touch-screens
correlates directly with slowing PC sales worldwide. Whatever the actual
answer, its unequivocal that PCs are experiencing a soft patch, sales-wise,
which in turn could affect PC manufacturers like Dell in negative ways.
Hence the
companys continued focus on tablets, despite the demise of the Streak project.
And whatever its final road map, chances are good that, unlike its Android
efforts, Dells Windows tablet foray will focus heavily on the enterprise.
Having a secure Windows tablet that works with all the Windows
applicationswere hearing a lot of demand for that, and we think that will be
quite attractive, Michael Dell, CEO of his eponymous company, told the Bloomberg West television show earlier in
March.
Follow Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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