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Dell sees the future - and it's mini!
Smart phones and laptop combine as mobility is key

By Liam Tung

Published: Friday 08 February 2008

In a sign that the convergence trend is even reaching technology's stalwarts, Dell has hinted its customers could force it to release a laptop with an eight-inch screen.

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Dell recently quashed rumours it would buy mobile company Motorola and make a move into the smart phone market, instead preferring to focus on mobility with laptops designed to serve the growing mobile workforce.

President of Dell Asia Pacific South, Paul-Henri Ferrand, said: "We see mobility as a big trend. Clearly what we see is that notebook sales will cross and overtake desktops by 2009. We're one company that says the desktop will stay, but the notebook is flying high."

Last week Gartner predicted that by 2012, around half the developed world's workers will be running virtualised desktops transported on portable storage devices like the iPod, rather than carrying laptops between work and home.

But, according to Ferrand, convergence between smart phones and laptops will increase as hardware manufacturers seek to create the ideal device for mobile workers.

He said: "Some companies have come up with low-cost, tiny notebooks and suddenly it's taking off because there is a form factor for each usage. There's a convergence of these products.

"Some work well, like the BlackBerry, but it's designed for one application: email. You also have the iPod, which is primarily for music, whereas a notebook can run your Windows applications, connect to the internet and it's a pretty efficient tool. So we believe there will be an expansion of the form factor upwards and downwards."

While mobile workers drive demand for smaller laptops, other laptop-user categories have emerged too - from large-screen laptop home users who typically move within the home, to users who prefer Linux operating systems.

Ferrand said: "Interestingly, we've seen actually that customers want bigger screen sizes. We've seen with flat panel and the notebook that customers want 17-, 18- and 19-inch screens. But they also want lighter and smaller notebooks. We can't say if we will go below an eight-inch screen but clearly there is some demand and I think consumers will lead the way in terms of smaller gadgets."

He said: "[Desktop] Linux is driven by customers asking for it. We can't deny that Linux has been a success on the server side and continues to be an option that people want to have on the desktop. So, we have made it available and it's working well."