I railed against Dell's unnecessary $2000-and-up MacBook Air clone, the Adamo, the other day. Today, I salute another bit of Dell news because this time they're actually making some sense.
Dell's anticipated effort to release a mobile phone has stalled after suffering from "a lack of interest" among cellular carriers, according to a research note published Friday.
Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu wrote that Dell's prototype devices, designed to run software from both Microsoft and Google, have so far failed to distinguish themselves from a growing field of competitors.
"From our conversations with supply chain and industry sources, it appears that it ultimately came down to lack of carrier interest," Wu wrote.
Rumors of a branded Dell mobile phone have been swirling since January, when speculation surfaced that the company might unveil a device at a high-profile event such as last month's Mobile World Congress.
But the potentially small subsidies from carriers operating cellular networks to help sell Dell's devices meant it would be difficult for the Round Rock, Tex.-based PC giant to make a profit.
Wu wrote that Dell has not abandoned its effort to release a mobile device, though it has "gone back to the drawing board" to design a more distinct model, which may involve making related acquisitions.
Sounds good to me. If you can't make a dent, don't bother.