From The Register.
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Dell disses handhelds and Net appliances
By: Lucy Sherriff
Posted: 31/01/2001 at 13:24 GMT
Say what you like about Michael Dell, the man certainly does not lack
confidence in his product or his business strategy.
When CEOs of big computer companies come to talk to the press, you
expect to hear a lot about their vision of the future. Speaking in London
today, Michael Dell spent more time shooting down other visions that he
did expounding his own ideas.
For Dell, the PC will remain central to people's lives and continue to be
one of the most important ways we access the web.
"I think if you look in rooms on college campuses you get a good idea of
where we are going with technology," he said. The PC at the centre of an
entertainment system, replacing the hi-fi system and often the video too.
But what about all the other devices that have been produced, all those
Internet appliances we keep hearing about? A good question, according
to Dell. "What did happen to them all?"
In particular, what about the handheld market? It isn't a priority market for
Dell, which is concentrating more on the server market and corporate
PC's.
"In five years time, handheld and notebook markets will be similar in
terms of unit volume," he said. "But in terms of revenue, handheld will be
nine per cent to notebook's 91 per cent. I think it is clear from that which
is more important."
Dell says it will get more interesting once wireless technology is
embedded in the Palm's and PocketPC's. "But we are going after the
high end first," he said.
And Bluetooth? He stopped short of calling it a load of hype - and did
stress his company's commitment to it as a communications standard -
but it was clear that as far as Dell is concerned, Bluetooth is a cable
replacement technology, nothing more, nothing less. The way forward for
wireless connectivity is 802.11.
Ok, so what about net access via a mobile phone? Forget about it as a
serious competitor to the PC. "The way human being process
information is essentially visual. The screen on a mobile phone is just too
small. Even as the displays get larger, it will continue to be a problem."
All of his arguments are valid, indeed often ones we have used
ourselves, but you can't help feeling that he might be missing the point a
bit. Dell is not a visionary by any stretch of the imagination, and seems to
be suffering from a kind of inertia.
However, Dell's market share is up, growing faster than the rest of the
industry in all markets it is involved with, so it may be that he is on the
same wavelength as the general public on this one.
But the overriding impression I got from the briefing was of a man who
had a good idea and made a lot of money selling computers.
Good coffee though. ® |
