CNet's Crave blog (click here) quotes Jeff Kagan, a reputed telecom analyst, saying that the smartphone market is likely growing at 10-15% after growing more than 50% till recently. The folks at Canalys even think that the US smartphone market grew more than 100% till Q3'08 (click here).
RIM, Apple and Nokia dominate the high-end of the smartphone market. Between them they account for 71% of the global smartphone market (Nokia 39%, Apple 17%, RIM 15%). All the other handset manufacturers (Palm, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, etc) make up the remaining 29%. Incidentally the Windows and the Android platform account for less than 15% of the market.
I wonder: Is it a good idea for Dell to launch their own Windows/ Android smartphone?
I think it would be a difficult business case to pull off. Here's why:
- Buyers of an iphone, Blackberry or the Nokia E71 are brand sensitive and are not likely to be seeking the cheapest smartphone available. Dell will have to spend significantly in marketing and product development if it wants to have a serious chance in the high-end of the smartphone market.
- Unlike servers or printers, people who buy PCs are not likely to be buying mobile phones at the same time. Thus having a full product line does not give any strategic advantage. The last time Dell tried to establish a brand in the consumer electronics space (by making MP3 players), it ended up badly (click here).
- Dell's traditional strength has been online direct selling of PCs. Mobile phones are already being sold online and Dell brings nothing new to the table on that front. Moreover in the US market, Dell will have to deal with each of the mobile carriers to sell its smartphones (Apple has done that successfully but then they had a hotttt product and they had Steve Jobs).
No comments:
Post a Comment