Dell abandons smartphone market, drops Android for Windows 8

Posted on 14 Dec 2012 at 10:12, by Gareth Halfacree

Dell has formally confirmed that it is staying out of the smartphone market, as well as giving up on its Android device development programmes.

Speaking to Forbes, Dell's Jeff Clarke, the head of the company's consumer business unit, confirmed that its departure from the smartphone market in the US was for the foreseeable future. Despite rival PC makers enjoying success with their own mobile products, with Apple being the obvious winner on that front, Clarke claimed that smartphone development "requires a lot of investments to really be successful" - investments the company is apparently unwilling to make.

Dell's most recent smartphones have centred around Google's Android platform, with the 5in Dell Streak its first, somewhat underwhelming, entry into the market. The company branched out into Android-powered tablets with the larger Dell Streak 7, but stiff competition from low-cost rival devices like Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 makes it a tough market for Dell to win share.

The company officially discontinued the Dell Streak in August last year, but left the door open for future devices - a door which is now firmly closing, with Clarke indicating that not only is the company done with smartphones but it's giving up on Android instead.

Rather than using Google's popular mobile platform, Clarke explained that Dell is going to concentrate on Microsoft's Windows 8 for future tablet devices - blaming Google's focus on selling content through its devices for meaning Dell "couldn't find a way to build a business on Android."

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