Image via CrunchBase
Dell Inc and China‘s top search engine Baidu Inc plan to jointly develop tablet
computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market dominated by Apple Inc
and Lenovo.
China is one of the fastest growing markets for tablets and is home to more than 900 million mobile phone
subscribers, but analysts were skeptical that the partnership would unseat Apple
as the dominant force in the market.
“I suspect this is just Dell, who has a lot of problems on the mobile and
tablet front, grasping at straws to get any kind of publicity that it can to
make its product more attractive,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director of
technology consultancy RedTech Advisors.
“Ultimately in China, I still think it is Apple’s game, still for the iPad and iPhone.”
Dell declined to give a timeline for the launch of the devices, but local
media reported on Tuesday, quoting sources, that it may be as early as
November.
Baidu launched a new mobile application platform last week and offered a
glimpse of its upcoming mobile operating system, which it hopes will serve a
growing number of users accessing the Internet from smartphones and tablet
computers.
The company said it already had partnerships with Dell and other device
makers and declined to comment on the new tie-up. Dell said the partnership with
Baidu involved the company’s new mobile platform.
Related articles
- Dell and Baidu are working together on tablet computers and mobile phones (slashgear.com)
- Dell plans partnership with China’s Baidu on tablets and mobiles (guardian.co.uk)
- Dell, Baidu team up for tablets and mobiles (huffingtonpost.com)
