Monday, July 19, 2010

Is it a phone? Is it a tablet PC?... No it's a Dell Streak

Dell Streak has launched in the UK and will soon be launched in the US. Here is the product page from the Dell UK website (click here) and a much better product page on the O2 UK website (click here). Here's a more instructional blog post from Dell (click here).

I had blogged in January 2009 (click here) about Dell's entry into smartphones. I had said then that Dell would find it a difficult business plan to pull off. It's time to revisit that assessment. (Of course, Streak is a cross between a smartphone and a tablet PC, not just a smartphone, but lets park that for now).

I was able to see a real-life demo of the Streak (don't ask how) and was impressed by the clarity of the display and the compact form factor.

Here's what works in the Streak's favor (or 'favour' if you are from the UK):
  • It has a 5 inch screen as compared to the 3.5 inch screen of the iPhone4
  • Dell Streak is based on the Android platform, which is an open platform, as opposed to the Apple platform.
  • The Streak has a Gorilla glass display that prevents scratches.
  • It is priced more attractively than the iPhone 4 (GBP 399 with Pay as you go compared to GBP 470 for the iPhone; On O2 it is free with a GBP 25 plan as opposed to a GBP 60 plan for the iPhone4)
Here's what works against it:
  • Should I compare Streak with iPhone or iPad? Is there really a white space between a smartphone and a tablet computer?
  • The brand pull of iPhone, iTunes and Steve Jobs
  • iPhone4 has Retina Display.... one can read a significant part of a newspaper page on the 3.5" screen without squinting
  • iPhone4 has video calling whereas the Streak does not
I still think Dell Streak will find it difficult to crack the US mobile market. Here's what Dell needs to do (to pose a serious challenge to Apple in this space):
  • Don't launch exclusively on AT&T. Go for T-mobile, Verizon Mobile, Sprint, also so that you are not competing head-on with iPhone4.
  • Clean up the Dell website to give more focus to the Streak. Currently you have to click 3-4 times to know that Dell sells mobile phones too. Maybe they should launch a separate product website for the Streak.
  • The website needs to have more video on how the phone looks and feels. They should show how apps looks on the phone when they run... In PCs that is not critical as most potential customers have worked on PCs before.
  • Currently Dell sells rival mobile phones (Samsung, HTC, etc) including some Android models. They need to be clear whether they want to sell Streak or help their rivals sell their smartphones.
I still feel it is difficult for Dell to pull this off....but I'll wait to be surprised.

Cola wars begin again

Pepsi is relaunching its cola wars ad from 1995 with a new generation twist. (Click here).
Interestingly they are comparing Coke Zero with Pepsi Max.

Interesting sections of the NY Times news article:

Introduced in Britain and Italy in 1993, and widely available in Europe ever since, Pepsi Max was not introduced in the United States until 2007. The sugarless cola, which is sweetened with a combination of aspartame and acesulfame potassium, contains nearly twice the caffeine of Diet Pepsi, and also contains ginseng.

A 2009 report by Mintel, the market research firm, said the soda’s sales had been “impressive,” even during the economic downturn, “likely by attracting price-sensitive energy drink users.

I had earlier blogged (in November 2008) about the potential of Pepsi Max in the US market (click here) due to the attractiveness to price-sensitive energy drink users. I am pleased to see that variant doing well.

Also interesting to note, from the same NYT article:

Diet Pepsi is more popular with women, but about 60 percent of Pepsi Max drinkers are men, according to Lauren Hobart, chief marketing officer of the sparkling brands division of PepsiCo. Diet sodas popular with men, like Pepsi One, Pepsi Max and Coke Zero, which many in Europe refer to as “bloke Coke,” avoid a word to which marketers believe men are averse: “diet.” (It is a widely held view in the weight-loss industry that men are more apt to say they need to “get in shape” than “go on a diet.”)

Among the company’s sugarless brands, Pepsi Max is popular with Gen X and Diet Pepsi with baby boomers.“Boomers generally grew up drinking Diet Pepsi but Gen X has been raised with more choices, and we’re trying to provide more choices that may meet their needs differently,” Ms. Hobart said.

Its interesting how demographic (gender, age) segments have distinct choice preferences and how product names can play a big role in product choice. Brand managers at both Pepsi and Coca Cola must be busy poring through their Usage & Attitude (U&A) studies to understand the segmentation better and to better target their products... Watch out for interesting positioning moves in the cola variants!!