Dell World: Dell gearing up to launch Windows 8 devices as Android disappoints
AUSTIN: Dell is throwing its weight firmly behind the Windows 8 tablet platform in a bid to challenge the dominance of the Apple iPad 2. — Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell …
Context & Ripple Effects
Dell entered tablets via Android, confirming its Android-powered tablet back in January 2010, but that bet never made a dent against Apple. At Dell World in Austin this week, Michael Dell framed the pivot plainly: the company is disappointed with Android and is throwing its weight behind Windows 8 as its vehicle for challenging the iPad 2.
First-order effects
- Dell's tablet roadmap effectively resets around Windows 8, sidelining the Android slate strategy it confirmed in 2010 and leaving its existing Android devices without a committed successor line.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft gains a flagship PC-maker backer for unproven Windows 8 tablets at exactly the moment it needs OEM volume to counter the iPad, while rival hardware vendors face pressure to declare their own Windows 8 tablet plans or cede the 'iPad alternative' position to Dell.
Third-order effects
- If Dell's disappointment proves representative, PC manufacturers' tablet strategies consolidate behind a single licensed OS rather than fragmenting across Android builds — reinforcing the gatekeeper dynamic where Microsoft, not Google, controls the non-Apple tablet stack.
The trend: PC makers are retreating from Android tablets toward Windows 8 as their chosen counterweight to the iPad, concentrating the non-Apple tablet market under Microsoft's platform control.