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Dell To Enter PDA Market

Posted by Hemos on from the here-it-comes dept.

soundsop writes "CNET News.com reports that Dell is poised to enter the PDA market. Michael Dell states that announcements for US PDA products are coming "really soon". Will I have 50 configuration options on my Dell PDA?"

5 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Accounts by e8johan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the good old days, everyone had an account on the central company server. (I had 250kB on an old winchester drive!) Nowdays we all have an account (or several) accesable over the internet. Over the years the internet has become mobile and I want to reach my files etc. even when I travel. This is probably one reason to why the PDA market has exploded in such a way as it has. Another important factor is the price and size of electronics; one can actually make a palm sized useful computer today to a price that some of us can afford.
    This move by DELL shows that the PDA market has grown, and become more mature. That is, PDAs are not only geek toys, but today they can be quite useful (even though I still use mine for vrally!).
    In the future I imagine almost everyone carrying PDAs that can be wirelessly conneced to a screen (or a projector) to show stuff, or terminals with proper kbds and mice to do real work. The PDA will be the phone, computer, wallet and calendar of today, and hopefully not running Palladium!

  2. Options? by sunilhari · · Score: 5, Insightful
    In all fairness, this could be Dell's chance to create something truly novel. Their PCs are pretty much the same as other manufacturers, and so creativity has been minimal.

    On the other hand, this could be simply another way to push WindowsCE through some backdoor agreement with Bill and Co. But we can only wait and see.

    I just hope that Dell's PDA doesn't turn into another Palm clone (Handspring, et. al)

    1. Re:Options? by Cheffo+Jeffo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Dell is not about technical creativity -- they build inexpensive machines that most people can use and get them out the door quickly.

      End Of Story.

      People end up paying for their machines before Dell has to pay for the components -- a nice way to finance things.

      They're going to put out a solid (?) WinPDA and price folks out of the market as only they can.

      Don't go looking for a revolution -- you'll just be disappointed.

      Cheers,

      JAKD

  3. where are the efficiencies for Dell in a PDA by elliotj · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can build a PDA like a PC or a pizza. Dell has enjoyed tremendous success by having super-efficient supply chain management. They're able to build PCs using off-the-shelf parts cheaper than anyone else. It's all because they keep inventories low and have tried to make every step as efficient as possible.

    For this to work in a PDA, they only thing they can realistically do is co-brand someone else's device. If that happens they won't be much more than a sales force for the other person's technology.

    If they decide to actually design and build one themselves, I think it would be a major shift in corporate strategy.

  4. Corporate Consumption by jlrowe · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I work for a large corporation which has standardized on Dell PC's for some time, and of course, Micorosoft software.

    I can imagine that they would be rather interested in the Dell product simply because it is Dell.

    And the big thing there is that it would displace everything else (Palm, Linux based PDA) with Win CE, virtually assuring MS dominance in the PDA field as other large companies also standardize on Dell.