Is Dell Betting on Windows 8 Tablets?

It looks like Microsoft will have a tablet ally in Dell.

Speaking in a press and analyst Q&A at Dell World 2011 this week in Texas, CEO Michael Dell reportedly said, "We are very aligned with Microsoft around Windows 8. You'll hear more about Windows 8 from us and see a wide range of products released" (emphasis mine).

In an apparent reference to the company's Google Android tablet effort in the Dell Streak 7, Michael Dell said, "Android is certainly another opportunity as well, but that market has not developed to the expectations they would have had."

While Dell has been a reliable partner with Microsoft in many areas over the years, the company generally only throws its weight behind the Microsoft products that are going to lead to big revenues.

For example, Dell has become very quiet about its Windows Phone lineup after launching the Dell Venue Pro for Windows Phone 7. During the same Q&A, Michael Dell and other company executives suggested that the company's forays into consumer products, such as the Venue Pro and the Streak 7, are often more like market tests than major efforts.

They suggested that for Dell, the ballgame is the PC market and the corporate side. "Dell is much more focused on providing a complete set of solutions to customers, including the device, but we're not really focused on the device," Michael Dell was quoted as saying.

From that standpoint, a serious Dell push behind Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets has more strategic logic for the company than an Android tablet effort.

Posted by Scott Bekker on October 16, 2011 at 11:58 AM