Dell takes steps to re-market its high-end gaming PCs

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is starting to de-emphasize its high-end XPS gaming PCs in favor of the Alienware brand it purchased several years ago, according to reports. This makes sense, as the XPS and Alienware brands seemed to almost compete with one another in many ways.

Gaming PCs, which typically sell for $2,000 or more, carry heavy margins and are very lucrative to Dell and other PC makers. Once some of the current XPS models are moved out of the way, there will be seven Alienware models that a product management group will oversee. Make no mistake: the gaming PC market is huge, worth about $12 billion annually.

This was a planned move, and it's one Dell should have made a few years ago when it acquired Alienware. For far too long it kept its XPS line of high-end PCs for sale, and in a way confused the buyers in this market: what's the difference between XPS and Alienware? Too many models and price points can be just as destructive as too little, but with Dell now in the midst of a corporate turnaround after losing the number-one PC spot to Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) last year, this is a timely, if not overdue, move.