Dell drops Streak 7, backs out of Android tablets in US
Dell quits Android tablet arena in short term — Dell on Monday confirmed that it had stopped selling the Streak 7. The tablet is no longer available online and is withdrawing just months after Dell axed the Streak 5.
Context & Ripple Effects
Dell’s Streak effort moved from plans for 7-inch and 10-inch models to a Streak retail launch in 2010, but the line was already narrowing after Dell pulled the Streak for an update in July 2011.
The August discontinuation of the 5-inch Streak made the Streak 7 Dell’s remaining U.S. Android tablet offering. Ending its sale closes that short-term channel rather than merely trimming a model range.
First-order effects
- Dell no longer sells a Streak tablet online in the U.S., removing its Android tablet presence in the short term.
- Android loses Dell as a U.S. tablet hardware seller, while Dell ends support for a retail product line that had already shed the Streak 5.
Second-order effects
- Dell’s U.S. sales channels have one fewer Android tablet to merchandise, shifting the company’s tablet-related customer demand away from the Streak line.
- The paired withdrawal of the Streak 5 and Streak 7 makes any return to U.S. Android tablets a new product decision for Dell rather than a continuation of the existing Streak range.
Third-order effects
- Dell’s retreat illustrates how a device maker can exit a platform segment by retiring an entire product family, concentrating its U.S. tablet strategy outside that family if it re-enters.
- The Streak sequence points to a more selective Android hardware market in which manufacturers’ platform participation depends on sustaining a full product line, not a single form factor.
The trend: Android tablet participation is becoming more selective as manufacturers reassess whether fragmented device lines justify continued U.S. retail support.