Michael Dell of Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has confirmed the launch of a Dell-branded smartphone sometime in 2010, one has to wonder this: why? Now that Dell has slipped to third place globally in terms of PC shipments, the computer direct selling pioneer now appears to be rather non-innovative, save for the Adamo paper-thin laptop PC that it keeps touting.In this BusinessWeek article, Dell himself touts the return of his company and a wave of innovative products and features coming that will help him continue reinventing the company he founded. One critical non-mention is present, though: the competition has not stayed still. Far from it. While Dell has been reinventing, competitors like Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) and a resurgent Acer of Taiwan have gotten everywhere Dell wanted to go -- first.
Dell cannot afford to play catch-up here -- the world is moving faster than it can reinvent anything. Dell has taken the bull by the horns in the last year by announcing several product and service mergers in an attempt to play in HP's backyard as well as try and play in IBM Corp.'s (NYSE: IBM) services-dominated universe. A new smartphone like all the others that are already being released in 2009 won't change anything.
It'll be just another "me too" product by perception (which is reality). If Dell wants a shot at becoming thought of as an innovative product manufacturer, it has to do more. That, or take to IBM and HP and try to compete in the services arena as best it can. Lest we not forget the Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) purchase of Sun Microsystems as well which will bring even more competition to that segment. Dell -- what can you do? Whatever it is, be fast about it. The market isn't going to wait.
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