Dell launches latest computers for commercial market

MANILA, Philippines- The local office of Dell Inc. is counting on its mobile computers to boost its business. Dell Philippines launched on Thursday in Makati City its Latitude E-series of mobile computers for the commercial or corporate market. The series boasts of some of the latest technology features which Dell said is a response to what their target market wants. Some of the features include the Blu Ray optical disc, support for the future availability of WiMax, and up to 19 hours of battery life. Laptops in the new series range from ultraportables, from 12 to 13 inches to mainstream desktop replacements from 14 to 15 inches. Barry Bunyi, director and country manager for Dell Philippines, said in a press conference, that they expect their mobile computers and servers to drive their business in the coming months. For the company's second quarter ending July, Bunyi said the Asia Pacific grew 16 percent year-on-year on volume and up to $2 billion in revenues owing to the strength of its mobile computers or notebook computers. For the Philippines, the servers and desktops led the growth at 26 percent but Bunyi said the notebooks grew by as much as 390 percent. Bunyi added that despite forecasts of a slowdown in the Philippine economy owing to the global slowdown led by the United States, Dell Philippines is seeing "some semblance of hope" as indicated by the company's second quarter performance. "People and companies are still spending," said Bunyi. He particularly cited the growth of the business process outsourcing (BPOs) as one market that is boosting their growth. Dell Philippines' expectations are not totally unfounded. Research and consultancy firm Internatonal Data Corporation (IDC) said recently that they are expecting the mobile computers to boost global sales of personal computers (PCs) which also includes desktop computers and Intel-based or x86 servers. IDC said they expect this trend to continue up to 2011 across the globe and among the mobile computers that will drive the growth are the so-called netbooks or low-cost PCs (ULPCs) or ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). Just last week, Dell Philippines launched its own version of netbooks, the Inspiron Mini 9". On Thursday, Dell also launched two ultraportable models at 12.1" and 13.3". Michael Vedua, Dell Philippines client business development manager, clarified at the press conference that the ultraportables are intended for content creation and not content consumption which is the target market of the netbook Inspiron Mini. Content consumption applications includes surfing the internet and email. Along with the Inspiron Mini, Dell last week launched its new Studio series of mobile computers and Studio Hybrid desktops for the consumer market. Dell has been traditionally strong in the commercial or corporate market worldwide but it is already making inroads in the consumer market. Dell is one of the latest makers of so-called branded computers which has entered the local market. While relatively a late player in the local market, Dell Philippine officials said they are bringing to the local market the kind of products that their target consumers are asking for. The Latitude E-series mobile computers, for instance, are the products of extensive research, including focus group discussions with the information technology (IT) managers who mostly decide what PCs companies use. The Latitude E-series include the E4000 series of ultraportables; the E6000 mainstream desktop replacements series and the E5000 series of cost-effective mobile computers. Bunyi said the Latitude E-series mobile computers will be available through seven authorized reseller partners which include Accent-Micro Technologies, Inc., Integrated Computer Systems, Inc., Micro-D International, Inc., CT Link Systems, Inc., Nexus Technologies, Inc., Phil-Data Business Systems, Inc., and Unison Computer Systems, Inc. -- Veronica C. Silva, GMANews.TV