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.