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Dell Stops Selling Android Tablets (pcworld.com)

Posted by msmash on from the taking-a-step-back dept.

Dell is discontinuing its Venue line of Android tablets. Furthermore, the company says it will also stop issuing software updates to its existing Android tablets. The move comes as Dell wants to shift its focus on Windows 2-in-1 devices. As for the other reason, the American company adds that Android market is "oversaturated" and is experiencing "declining demand from consumers." Other Android devices from the company were discontinued some time ago. The company will honor after sales support for people who have purchased Venue Android tablets until the warranty and service contracts expire.

46 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting post by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I was wondering who still uses an iPad / Android tablet now that the fad has mostly passed and sales have declined.

    Mine sits in the drawer in the nightstand most of the time. I only pull it out when I'm doing something on my phone and wish I had a bigger screen.

    My first tablet was iPad 2, then Nexus 10, and now a Galaxy Tab S 10.5. I know what I'm taking about, as I've used both iOS and Android. No fanboyism here. I'm definitely now buying a new tablet once the Tab dies.

    Between my Nexus 5 and my no-brand 15" gaming notebook, I'm well served as far as my home computing needs go.

    Same goes for my decidedly unscientific research goes. My brother gave his tablet to his daughter to play with. My co-workers either sold or ditched theirs. The only exception is my 65-year-old mom, who loves her iPad to death and won't use anything else.

    1. Re:Interesting post by tripleevenfall · · Score: 1, Troll

      If I wanted a tablet, I think I'd actually rather get an ipad. Even though I'm not an Apple fan, at least you can count on support and updates for a number of years, and that after the actual model I bought is discontinued, it will still have an update path.

    2. Re:Interesting post by msmash · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have an iPad, and a Nexus 6. As much as I would like to read things on my 6-inch phone, nothing beats reading a magazine on an iPad (and other tablets), in my opinion. So I see some value in tablet, but yeah, it's not really serving as many purposes.

    3. Re:Interesting post by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 2

      That was basically my experience between the two. The Galaxy Tab I had got its last update like six months after I got it. The iPad 3 i got at least three years worth from. Actually it might have one or two more, but Apple did teach me to cool it on the late-in-life updates or risk it being irreversibly sluggish.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    4. Re:Interesting post by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      First Marshmallow, or second Marshmallow?

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    5. Re:Interesting post by Desler · · Score: 5, Informative

      Tons of people. Over 200 million units were sold in 2015. And just Apple alone they've sold 26 million in the first two quarters of 2016. Your anecdotes don't match reality by any measure.

    6. Re:Interesting post by nevermore94 · · Score: 1

      I still love Android tablets, I just haven't had a need for a new one in 3 years. My 2013 Nexus tablet still serves me just fine and I use it almost every day for looking up data during meetings at work and couch surfing and playing games at home or watching movies when traveling. When it finally dies I will definitely buy another, if not sooner. The nVidia Shield tablets have been calling my name lately.

      --
      Nevermore.
    7. Re:Interesting post by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      I still love iPads, I just haven't had a need for a new one in 5 years. My 2011 iPad2 still serves me just fine and I use it almost every day for looking up data during meetings at work and couch surfing and playing games at home or watching movies when traveling. When it finally dies I will definitely buy another, if not sooner. The iPad Pros have been calling my name lately.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    8. Re:Interesting post by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      The tablet is a whole lot easier to browse the web on or do a whole host of other things. I'll use my phone, but if my tablet is available, I'll use that over the phone. If a laptop or other computer is available, I'll use those for web browsing. There's just no substitute for multiple tabs and flexible cut and paste and general actions taken on a computer browser versus the experience on a phone or tablet. The thing is, tablets appear to last at least twice as long as phones, at least from what I'm seeing in the Apple realm, and apparently the Nexus tablets appear to be lasting longer than the average Android phone.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    9. Re:Interesting post by SQLGuru · · Score: 1

      At this point, a large screened phone is sufficient for my tablet needs.....games, browsing, podcasts, etc. A Tablet was never really a good creation platform and the 2-in-1s are the next attempt to get people to move away from a laptop.....I probably won't even get one of those. I think a nice phone and a nice laptop are still going to be my preferred weapons of choice.

    10. Re:Interesting post by thsths · · Score: 1

      I agree. Tablets are really useful, and there is clearly demand, but very little on offer in the quality tablet space.

      There is Apple, there is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, and there was the Sony Xperia Z Tablet series (now discontinued). The Kindle Fire HDX also has aspirations. Dell never played in the same league.

      2-in-1 devices are certainly more flexible, but I find Windows really off-putting. It may be more powerful, but the App market is very sorry looking, and real Windows programs just do not scale properly for a tablet.

    11. Re:Interesting post by David_Hart · · Score: 2

      Between my Nexus 5 and my no-brand 15" gaming notebook, I'm well served as far as my home computing needs go.

      Same goes for my decidedly unscientific research goes. My brother gave his tablet to his daughter to play with. My co-workers either sold or ditched theirs. The only exception is my 65-year-old mom, who loves her iPad to death and won't use anything else.

      I started with a HP tablet. I got 5 of them during the fire sale and gave most of them as Christmas gifts.

      Shortly after I bought an Asus TF700T 10" tablet. I used it primarily as a laptop replacement when traveling. It had longer battery life and was a ton lighter. I used it for years. Asus came out with Android updates for the first 2 years, then I switched to third party android versions from the XDA board.

      I bought a Nexus 7 on sale. Fits in my cargo shorts pocket. Perfect for browsing the Internet, playing games, and reading email on a short trip or when sitting in a waiting room for car service. Plus I have a Bluetooth ODB reader and the Torque app for checking car codes. Still getting updates.

      I just purchased a new tablet before Christmas to replace the Asus as my travel tablet, a Surface Pro 4. I've since started using it for work. A combination of the stylus, One Note, and Visio lets me free-form network diagrams and then use Visio to make them professional.

      I have a desktop for gaming and a XPS 13 laptop. I hardly ever use the laptop since I bought the Surface. I usually reach for the Nexus or the Surface when I go someplace or just want to surf.

    12. Re:Interesting post by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Who still uses a 15" gaming notebook now that the fad has mostly passed and sales have declined?

    13. Re:Interesting post by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It was the anecdote of a person who prefers his 15" gaming notebook and writes off an iPad as a fad. To put this in perspective 200 million iPads were sold in 2015. Yet only 72million PCs, a figure which includes desktops, laptops, netbooks, and slate devices. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine how few of those were for "gaming notebooks".

    14. Re:Interesting post by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Mine sits in the drawer in the nightstand most of the time. I only pull it out when I'm doing something on my phone and wish I had a bigger screen.

      No wonder it doesn't get used - you've got it stored away. Mine sits on the end table at my end of couch, and see's daily use. I use it to check my mail and the news while I'm drinking my morning coffee. It's equally in use in the evening for the same purposes, as well as looking up information on shows I'm watching. It also goes into the kitchen to serve as a reference when I'm cooking. (And that's not counting it being used as an e-reader via the Kindle app.)
       
      I don't have a laptop (one that suits my needs is just too expensive), so when I'm travelling it serves as my primary interface to the 'net. It's not a daily carry (I'm a househusband) because it's wi-fi only. If I need 'net access when I'm out and about it's usually easier to just use my iPhone. (But I have a car charger for both the phone and the tablet and use them on the go occasionally.)
       
      I have a big desktop (designed for photo editing and gaming), my Dell Venue tablet, and an iPhone 5... each one has their uses.

    15. Re:Interesting post by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 1

      I bought a 9.7" iPad Pro a couple of months ago and I've barely used my personal laptop since. I don't take my work laptop to meetings anymore now that I can scribble out notes easily while I'm recording talks.

      I can't play "big" games on it or edit code (at least not to the degree I need), but for almost everything else it's way more convenient than a full-size laptop.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    16. Re:Interesting post by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      You aren't the only one, I've had a ton of people try to unload their tablets at the shop and the local CL is full of "em because nobody really knows what to do with it. They have their phone for when they need super portable and for everything else they have their laptop...what role is the tablet gonna fit?

      I had the same problem myself, I ended up giving away my Asus quad core tablet because I really just couldn't find a good use for the thing, my netbook is just as portable as the tablet (and thanks to having an AMD APU I can just plug it into a TV via HDMI and use it for an HTPC) and when I'm on the go? I have a quad core phone in my pocket. I just couldn't find a good use case where I would need a bigger screen but not be better served by having my netbook.

      At least with the 2 in 1s that Dell is switching to they make sense as its really just a Windows netbook you can pop the keyboard off of and despite what happened with netbooks last time (which I would argue they priced themselves out of the market, the first netbooks were just $250 and by the end they were $499) there is still a good size market for cheap and light laptops that people can run their full programs on. I've handled a couple of these at the shop and...they really aren't bad, they remind me of the Atom netbooks, not very fast but perfectly fine for basic tasks.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    17. Re: Interesting post by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I like my 8" Galaxy Tab A. They are only $170 now. An iPad would lock me into an ecosystem I tried and didn't like. And cost a whole lot more. If I wanted a tablet with a better display than any iPad I'd get a Galaxy Tab S.

    18. Re: Interesting post by bryanp · · Score: 1

      I still use my iPad Mini on a daily basis, and will likely replace it with a Mini 4 sometime this year. But then I'm "old" (48), need reading glasses these days, and appreciate the extra screen size over my android phone for casual use around the house and watching videos.

      --
      "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
    19. Re:Interesting post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Tablets are for rooms that have two people in them. You wake up in the morning, and one of you gets to use the nice machine, with the keyboard and mouse, and big TV at the foot of the bed. The other person wants to browse something else while drinking their coffee. That's where the tablet comes in: as a second screen. The room otherwise just can't easily (or very sanely) contain two monitors.

    20. Re:Interesting post by guacamole · · Score: 1

      I am surprised you found no uses for your tablet. I own one of the larger tablets with a 10 inch screen, and for me it's basically a portable TV screen that I can use for:

      1. Watching live and on-demand content of all ATT Uverse channels, and also Netflix, Amazon, youtube, etc from any room where there is no TV, from hotels, and from my gym as I am working out on a cardio, spinner bike, etc.

      2. Watching any shows I have downloaded directly onto the device (I have tons) or ripped from a DVD in the gym, on a flight, in a hotel, and wherever I feel like.

      3. Portable PC that's used strictly for web browsing, and other media consumption on a sofa, in my bed or in a cafe, basically whenever I don't really need a laptop keyboard.

    21. Re:Interesting post by Shirley+Marquez · · Score: 1

      I regularly use my Fire tablet to read e-books. I find my phone screen too small for the purpose; the 7" tablet is just right for reading on the go. I only occasionally use it for other apps because it's slow, mostly because of having only 1GB RAM. I expect I will buy another or its current equivalent if it dies - that one use is important enough to me to justify the $50, or less if you catch it on sale as I did.

  2. C'mon editors! by SeaFox · · Score: 3, Funny

    No joke about "Venue being closed"?

  3. Translation by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...the American company adds that Android market is "oversaturated" and is experiencing "declining demand from consumers."

    Translation:

    "Too many people are already using an Android tablet and we can't sell as many as we used to."

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:Translation by mark-t · · Score: 1

      So instead of selling something that they can't sell as many of as they used to because the market might be getting saturated, they are switching to selling something that where the market isn't that saturated because there isn't as high a demand for it in the first place?

      Yeah, that makes sense.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    2. Re:Translation by Revek · · Score: 1

      So they can't compete with cheaper tablets and are backing out of that market?

    3. Re:Translation by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      So instead of selling something that they can't sell as many of as they used to because the market might be getting saturated, they are switching to selling something that where the market isn't that saturated because there isn't as high a demand for it in the first place?

      Yeah, that makes sense.

      It actually does make sense from a long-term marketing perspective. Maybe they'll be able to drum up more business or stimulate that market with advertising or corporate targeting, maybe they'll be able to convince people to switch from Android to the Windows 2-in-1 devices, or maybe they're just trying to find a fresh market to drop anchor in.

      In any case it makes little sense for them to keep trying to sell in a declining or saturated market and so the alternative does make some sense, albeit in a somewhat counter-intuitive way.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    4. Re:Translation by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      So they can't compete with cheaper tablets and are backing out of that market?

      If they've saturated that market (or someone else has) then yes, it makes sense to set their sights on a potentially more lucrative market that isn't all played out yet.

      Maybe they thinking that instead of selling 1000 Android tablets for say, $300, maybe they'll sell 500 Windows tablets for $900. Dell has often gone after the corporate market, so that might be where they're going to focus their efforts. I don't know, I'm just speculating but from a marketing perspective it does make a certain amount of sense. That is, why try to sell to a market that's already saturated, why not move to a higher-end client base and sell there instead?

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    5. Re:Translation by Curate · · Score: 1

      Not sure why that sentence needed any translation, or why your "translation" was modded insightful. The sentence was quite clear the way it was written.

    6. Re:Translation by guacamole · · Score: 1

      Then there is something Samsung knows but Dell doesn't. Samsung introduces multiple tablet models every year.

    7. Re:Translation by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      Then there is something Samsung knows but Dell doesn't. Samsung introduces multiple tablet models every year.

      They may do that out of a desire to find a good fit for various perceived levels or niches in the market, or it may just be artificial differentiation. That is, float lots of "different" versions of something and see which one people gravitate towards even though they're basically the same thing.

      But either way, I'm all for having lots of choices in electronic gear, and by and large I've found Samsung to be fairly decent stuff. Some of their older tablets were built like tanks and stood up to a lot of abuse.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  4. Not surprising by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    I'm only saying that because I never knew Dell even sold Android tablets. Heard a bit of Venue as Windows x86 tablets.

    1. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In 2015, Dell made the most beautiful tablet ever, the Venue 8 7840, with an absolutely *gorgeous* AMOLED screen, Intel processor, microSD card support, and a really awesome camera. I bought two of them about a week after they came out, based on all the awesome reviews. It was an 8.4" screen, but bezel-less, so only *slightly* larger than my ancient Nexus 7.

      It came with Lolipop. It got exactly *one* update about two months later, to Marshmallow. And then, that was it. No more. Not a single fucking update for the rest of the year that I owned it. Even after high profile security vulnerabilities for Android were disclosed and released in the wild. Dell just never thought providing updates was important.

      It had 16gb of internal storage, but you could expand it with a microSD card, right? Nope. Don't even fucking think about using the microSD card slot for ANYTHING. Which meant that all those awesome pictures that you were taking with the great camera? Yeah, good luck not running out of storage space. The device supported up to 256gb of microSD card, but you could only format the card, and that's it. You couldn't save images to it, move apps to it, access it from a file manager -- NOTHING.

      Oh yeah, and in the spirit of sounding open-source friendly, Dell promised we could unlock the bootloader and they would release the source to drivers so that the community could update. So I waited. And waited. Long story short -- it never happened. I sold both tablets on Christmas of last year after about 10 disappointing months of ownership.

  5. Re:Got something right by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dell became a major brand while competing in a highly oversaturated market. But times changed, they're getting old and the joints are creaky, so they want to relax a bit and enjoy the grandkids instead of alway being competitive.

  6. negligent in support by pD-brane · · Score: 1

    Furthermore, the company says it will also stop issuing software updates to its existing Android tablets. [...] The company will honor after sales support for people who have purchased Venue Android tablets until the warranty and service contracts expire.

    This seems inconsistent: If you stop issuing software updates, you are negligent in your after-sales support.

  7. Re:we're poor little sheep by Sir_Eptishous · · Score: 1

    then I guess I'll just have to buy whatever Dell wants to sell me now, even if it is Microsoft crap that no one wants.

    We knew you'd come along eventually...

    --
    We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
  8. Windows hardware? by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Funny, since from recent experience their current laptops have better hardware support under Linux than they do with Windows 10.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    1. Re:Windows hardware? by codealot · · Score: 1

      Try that with their servers. Their Linux driver support is extremely lagging.

      Even today if you download new drivers for an MD array, they bundle Java 6. Which was end of life over 3 years ago and is incapable of interoperating with modern TLS implementations. If you care about securing your systems and use Dell drivers, disable as much as you can and live by the CLI.

  9. Dell sells Android tablets? by DickBreath · · Score: 2

    Who knew?

    (and even if I had known, who cares?)

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  10. since Dell is abandoning its android tablets by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    they should make available tools to allow people root access so they can install Linux or other android distributions

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  11. Lessons learned by ilsaloving · · Score: 2

    I learned the hard way not to trust Dell with mobile device support, when I bought one of their Windows CE devices, specifically because they said that they were going to put out an update to the next major version. It never came.

    If you want to buy any kind of mobile device, and want it to be supported, you don't buy it from Dell. Ditto with Samsung.

    And now a whole bunch more people have now learned that lesson the hard way as well.

    1. Re:Lessons learned by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

      I had an S3. There was only a couple of minor updates, and certainly no major version update. Between that, and all the shovelwear they put on it, I ended up having to root it and install cyanogenmod on it just so the phone would be usable.

      This is inexcusable behaviour from a major manufacturer that was supposedly peddling a "flagship" phone.

  12. Dell not selling Linux laptops in the US .. by tetraverse · · Score: 1

    "The smallest 13-inch on the planet with the world’s first infinityEdge display

    Dell US:"This product is currently unavailable. Please find our recommendation for a comparable system below."

    Dell UK: "Starting at £858 Ex. VAT & Shipping"

  13. The move was to support windows 2 in 1s by johnmiller061 · · Score: 1

    Dell seems to have a good repo with Microsoft than Google. If reports to be believed the move was to bring the windows 2 in 1s in place android handheld devices. Hope this strategy works for dell. Not really a fan of Dell mobile devices.

  14. Kind of a shame - Venue 7 was solid. by jzarling · · Score: 1

    I bought 2 Dell Venue 7 tablets a couple years ago - and they have been solid. My kid plays on his daily. no battery issues, and only 1 full wipe and reset.

    --
    It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
  15. Two in one? by vandamme · · Score: 1

    As long as the other OS is Linux, I'll have a look at it.

    Oh, that's not what they mean?