Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is planning to launch a tablet which comes with a hinged keyboard, making it very similar to a laptop computer. That’s according to a report from The Wall Street Journal’s Eva Dou.
Details On Dell’s Next Windows Tablet
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) VP Kirk Schell spoke to The WSJ today before tomorrow’s opening of Computex, which is the biggest computing trade show in Asia. He said the PC maker’s new tablet will be 11.6 inches and launch by the holiday season this year. The XPS 11 tablet also has a hinged keyboard that can fold backward and a high-definition display.
Dell’s Future Plans
Schell said the company will continue to focus on making mobile devices using Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows operating system. However, he also said they are also considering making devices using other operating systems.
According to Dou, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is the only PC maker in the top five around the globe which doesn’t make devices which run on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Android operating system. In 2011, the company stopped making Android tablets in the U.S. because it said there were too many difficulties competing with companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which makes Android tablets that are content-based (a.k.a., the Kindle Fire).
Schell also told Dou that China is one of the company’s other major focuses and that it is working on some products made specifically for China, although he didn’t say what those products might be.
Update On Dell’s Buyout
The company has been struggling to reinvent itself as the PC market continues to shrink rapidly. A shareholder vote is scheduled for July 18, and the company’s board has recommended that they approve the go-private deal offered by founder Michael Dell at Silver Lake Partners, a private-equity firm. Of course Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has a vested interest in keeping Dell alive, so it said it would give the company a $2 billion loan in support of Mr. Dell’s deal.
Activist investor and Dell shareholder Carl Icahn teamed up with Southeastern Asset Managers to make a second offer to the company after Icahn withdrew his initial offer. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s board recommended Mr. Dell’s offer because it shifts much of the risk to the buyout offer. The board said Icahn’s offer would keep the risk with shareholders through a leveraged recapitalization.
