There is noise this week from both Dell and Acer that the companies might be readying smartphone announcements for the upcoming GSMA World Congress. Is this a new
growth area for PC companies looking to break-out from the traditional slim margin,
highly competitive computer industry? If so, what are these companies seeing in the
marketplace that would propel them to enter a market with traditional entrenched competitors
such as RIM, Nokia, Sony, HTC, Samsung and of course Apple.
For one thing, these companies are seeing tremendous growth. According to IDC smartphone
shipments are expected to double from 157M worldwide shipments in 2008 to 301 million
shipments in 2012. Double digit growth is not something PC companies typically see. But
perhaps these companies also see the opportunity to create new channels and product
packaging to the end user - outside of the traditional retail phone distribution we see today.
It is not impossible to visualize companies like Dell and Acer bundling their PC and smartphone
products together, and wrapping the entire solution in a service bundle that ensures data
synchronicity, access to mobile application stores and media and entertainment bundles. While
the PC only generates nominal revenue for Dell after it lands in the hands of its customers,
smartphones could generate a lot more revenue from application and data service revenue.
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