Michael Dell teased plans for a second tablet computer from Dell Inc., a move that would expand his company's portfolio of mobile devices and join the list of competitors for Apple Inc.'s iPad.
Dell, which began selling a five-inch Streak tablet earlier this year, plans to offer a tablet with a seven-inch screen, the Dell chief executive said at an Oracle Corp. conference Wednesday.
Mr. Dell briefly showed the device on stage and said it would run Google Inc.'s Android smartphone operating system. "Of course, it's nice to have a larger screen," he said, but didn't provide other technical details, pricing or an expected release date.
A Dell spokesman declined to provide further details.
Mr. Dell Wednesday also said the five-inch Streak, which doubles as a smartphone, would soon be available at Best Buy Co. stores, where it will compete for shelf space with the iPad.
Dell founder Michael Dell. onstage at an Oracle event Wednesday, briefly flashed a larger tablet computer.
The move comes roughly five months after Apple began selling its iPad, igniting consumer interest in the emerging tablet computer category. Apple sold 3.3 million iPads in its first quarter on the market, while a host of other computer makers are rushing similar devices to the market.
Shipments of touchscreen tablet computers are expected to reach more than 15.4 million units this year from roughly 167,000 units a year ago, according to industry tracker iSuppli.
The iPad will represent a large majority of those shipments for the next couple of years, the firm's estimates show, even as competition ratchets up and shipments balloon to about 76.7 million units in 2012.
Computer and consumer electronics manufacturers, including South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan's Asustek Inc., are building similar tablets.
Many of these devices will run Android, like Dell's two devices. Other companies, such as Hewlett-Packard Co., are eschewing previous development in favor of new proprietary systems.
A new seven-inch tablet to be announced by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is expected to run an operating system from a recently acquired company, according to people familiar with the matter.
"You're going to see a spray-and-pray approach with a lot of the tablet market over the course of the next year as vendors throw a number of products out there to see what sticks," said iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander.
Part of what's driving this experimentation is the lack of strong software tools, she added, which is causing a lot of manufacturers to experiment with size and form factor in order to spur unique applications for their products.
Dell's Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden echoed that sentiment in a June interview, during which he said low development costs for these devices would allow the company to test various sizes and designs in the market.
Whether the tablet can be a meaningful area of growth is still in question, however. Brisk sales of netbooks—low-cost, no-frills tiny laptops—were derided by some manufacturers for bringing in low profits.
The same could potentially happen with tablets. Shortly after the Streak's debut, Mr. Dell said initial sales were "interesting, exciting, but immaterial to Dell's $60 billion in revenue."
Dell, which began selling a five-inch Streak tablet earlier this year, plans to offer a tablet with a seven-inch screen, the Dell chief executive said at an Oracle Corp. conference Wednesday.
Mr. Dell briefly showed the device on stage and said it would run Google Inc.'s Android smartphone operating system. "Of course, it's nice to have a larger screen," he said, but didn't provide other technical details, pricing or an expected release date.
A Dell spokesman declined to provide further details.
Mr. Dell Wednesday also said the five-inch Streak, which doubles as a smartphone, would soon be available at Best Buy Co. stores, where it will compete for shelf space with the iPad.
Dell founder Michael Dell. onstage at an Oracle event Wednesday, briefly flashed a larger tablet computer.
The move comes roughly five months after Apple began selling its iPad, igniting consumer interest in the emerging tablet computer category. Apple sold 3.3 million iPads in its first quarter on the market, while a host of other computer makers are rushing similar devices to the market.
Shipments of touchscreen tablet computers are expected to reach more than 15.4 million units this year from roughly 167,000 units a year ago, according to industry tracker iSuppli.
The iPad will represent a large majority of those shipments for the next couple of years, the firm's estimates show, even as competition ratchets up and shipments balloon to about 76.7 million units in 2012.
Computer and consumer electronics manufacturers, including South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan's Asustek Inc., are building similar tablets.
Many of these devices will run Android, like Dell's two devices. Other companies, such as Hewlett-Packard Co., are eschewing previous development in favor of new proprietary systems.
A new seven-inch tablet to be announced by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is expected to run an operating system from a recently acquired company, according to people familiar with the matter.
"You're going to see a spray-and-pray approach with a lot of the tablet market over the course of the next year as vendors throw a number of products out there to see what sticks," said iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander.
Part of what's driving this experimentation is the lack of strong software tools, she added, which is causing a lot of manufacturers to experiment with size and form factor in order to spur unique applications for their products.
Dell's Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden echoed that sentiment in a June interview, during which he said low development costs for these devices would allow the company to test various sizes and designs in the market.
Whether the tablet can be a meaningful area of growth is still in question, however. Brisk sales of netbooks—low-cost, no-frills tiny laptops—were derided by some manufacturers for bringing in low profits.
The same could potentially happen with tablets. Shortly after the Streak's debut, Mr. Dell said initial sales were "interesting, exciting, but immaterial to Dell's $60 billion in revenue."
Source : online.wsj.com
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