Funambol CEO Weighs in on Dell's Smartphone Decision
by Kristin Shoemaker - Feb. 01, 2009Comments (0)- Related Blog Posts
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Late last week, Dell announced it planned to enter the smartphone market, after a year of speculation surrounding the hardware (and mobile platform) whys and wherefores.
Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of open source mobile push/sync service Funambol says that he is looking forward to seeing both of the new phones Dell will show off at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month.
Both? Dell is offering a Windows Mobile device, and another powered by Google's Android platform. Capobianco details why he thinks this is a smart move, and how he thinks Android will eventually become Dell's platform of choice.
All things considered, Dell didn't have much of a choice when it came to mobile platforms. There were choices, but as Capobianco says, the decision to use both was a "non-choice," an admission on Dell's part that there is no telling what the market will do, and an acknowledgement that Dell isn't sure enough to invest a whole lot of time and money in anything but the concept at this point.
Capobianco says Dell's dual offering makes sense because "the only risk of not making a move is not making a move." He believes the Android-powered phones will begin outselling Windows Mobile Dell devices within a few quarters, but that Dell will continue to offer both platforms for a good long time.
I agree with Capobianco's take on Dell's approach. It's cautious, and it's cautious because while Dell might see an open platform such as Android as the ideal way to move forward with the business, Dell is a Microsoft partner right now.
It will be interesting to see if Capobianco is correct in his predictions on how Android versus Windows Mobile sales will play out with Dell smartphones. There is a strong interest in Android devices throughout the industry, and given Dell's history with peripheral gadgetry (PDAs and MP3 players), it's as likely a Dell-Android device will succeed as it is that both phones will be quietly discontinued.
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