Dell has announced that it would introduce a smartphone on the AT&T network. The smartphone will use Google Android.
Dell expects to launch the smartphone next year. If the AT&T deal materializes, all the major US cellular carriers would be carrying phones running Google Android. Without doubt. this will be a major boost for Google which is already dominating the search market.
This is Dell’s first attempt to tap into the cell phone market which is already saturated with a number of companies. Dell announced that the cell phone would be touchscreen based and will feature a keypad and camera as well. Earlier in August, Dell displayed a device in China–Dell’s AT&T phone will be quite similar to it but will come with some different features.
Dell’s smartphone will also come with software such as a web browser, a music player and games.
Google Android is slowly gaining in the market with more and more phone makers preferring to use it. Till date, nine Android based smartphones have been announced across 32 carriers in 26. Android is expected to start appearing in even smaller markets around the world, like with the Asian provider “Telephone Systems International“, as its reach expands further and further.
AT&T is the US’s second-largest wireless carrier in terms of the number of users. Verizon Wireless, the largest carrier in the US has announced that it would launch its first two Android based devices this year.
Google Android is free to use and so won’t generate any direct revenues for Google. However, expects to benefit from the operating system by pushing its other products such as maps and mobile search in the long term.
Dell is also currently negotiating with other carriers in the US. It may possibly offer its device with T-Mobile USA Inc. as well. However, T-Mobile has not revealed any information about this. Dell already sells netbooks which use cellular networks to access the Internet.
In the recent years, Dell’s revenues have been on a decline as it has been facing a heavy competition from rivals in the PC market. Dells plans to expand into lucrative markets to reverse that drop.
Dell has identified smartphones as an important area as more and more users are buying them, Earlier in August, Dell had announced that it would be developing handsets for China Mobile Ltd., the largest cellular carrier in China.