Smartphones And Tablets Unlikely To Challenge PC Dominance Michael Dell Says

Post by Sharat | January 10, 2012 | Dell Computers, Dell News | Comment

Michael Dell, chief executive of Dell Computers Australia says it is highly unlikely that PC dominance will be challenged either by the smartphone or tablet segment, since most internet users of such devices will likely look towards the personal computer for a better online experience.

According to Mr. Dell, consumers who were off to college for the first time, with the option of only one device are likely to choose a PC or laptop over smartphone or tablet.

“If you could have two devices, then you would probably choose the phone before the tablet,” the Dell CEO added.

Mr. Dell, made his comments whilst speaking in India, at an event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries.

Mr. Dell’s view is similar to the results of research authored by market analyst IDC, who in October said that it did not expect tablets to displace personal computers. Globally PC shipments rose by 3.6 per cent during the third quarter of the last fiscal according to IDC.

In November last year Dell’s mobility division, which includes both tablets and laptops reported a 2 per cent fall in revenue during the third quarter compared to the same time period in the previous year. Dell also reported a 6 percent decline in revenue from desktop sales.

According to analysts, in some emerging markets such as India, the number of people who use mobile phones is much higher than the number of people using PC’s, primarily because their cost is much lower, and also because the ability to communicate is seen as being more important than the ability to compute.

Mr. Dell reckons that once users experience the internet on a small screen device, they would probably prefer to have a better user experience on a larger screen, rather than viewing sites though a “peephole”

“So think of these small mobile devices as creating the next wave of users who will want larger-screen devices,” Dell said.

Mr. Dell says his company intends to make some announcements in the smartphone segment. According to Mr. Dell, smartphone users consumer a lot of data, which has resulted in rising demand for data centers to host the backend, which represents a significant opportunity for Dell to boost sales of its server products.

The IT industry requires both hardware, as well as software and services, and is the main reason why Dell is transforming itself from being a pure hardware player, into one that also provides software and services, Mr. Dell said.