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Dell likely to sell smaller devices similar to smart phones
Dell Inc may eventually sell smaller devices with features similar to smart phones, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said, signaling that the personal-computer maker could challenge the iPhone and BlackBerry.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 20:53 September 5, 2008
New York: Dell Inc may eventually sell smaller devices with features similar to smart phones, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said, signaling that the personal-computer maker could challenge the iPhone and BlackBerry.
"What's a smart phone? What's an Internet in your pocket?" Dell, 43, said on Friday at the Citi Investment Research Technology Conference in New York. "Those lines are going to get really blurry and then completely disappear."
Dell fuelled speculation last year that it would get into the phone business after hiring Ron Garriques, the former head of Motorola Inc's mobile-phone unit. Apple Inc moved into the market last year with its iPhone, challenging the industry leader, Research In Motion Ltd's BlackBerry.
Dell has no intention of introducing such a device in the near term, Michael Dell said.
In an April interview, he said there were no plans to enter the mobile-phone business this year.
Dell fell 52 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to $20.31 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have dropped 17 per cent this year.
Since retaking the CEO job last year, Michael Dell has pushed deeper into consumer products, such as a 9-inch mini computer debuting this week.
In an effort to reclaim the title of top PC maker from Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell has put its products in more than 13,000 stores and 24 countries.
Dell has trailed Hewlett-Packard in PC shipments for eight straight quarters.
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