Just when it seemed that the Android tablet market was on its way up, the market is already shifting. Perhaps it has a little to do with the slight decline of the PC and the relative failure of the Windows phone; and so Microsoft has been scrambling to make sure they remain relevant in such a volatile market.
At the same time, tablets have been trendy and, as a result, the consumers are overwhelmed with options (particularly if you look outside the United States). Both Android and Windows tablets continue to become more and more accessible—and versatile—and, this might be contributing to a slowdown in Android production. As such, computer makers may begin moving away from Android tablets; and Dell is, apparently, leading the charge.
Indeed, Dell vice president Kirck Schell notes, “We’ve found that the lack of productivity delivered by slate tablets are forcing people to leave them at home, and instead continue to use PCs to get real work done.”
Also the general manager for commercial client solutions Schell adds, “the slate tablet market is oversaturated and is experiencing declining demand from end users.”
And you only need to look in the company’s newly focused direction on 2-in-1 devices to understand the strategy. These devices make far more sense as Windows 10 devices than as Android devices to the finicky consumer who wants more for their money. Thus, a hybrid “detachable tablet” running the full Microsoft Windows 10 suite (and not an “RT” version) can be far more attractive than a simple tablet running only on the Android OS.
Schell goes on to explain “With the release of Windows 10, our 2-in-1s and laptops are positioned to take advantage of the largest growth opportunities within the personal computing space,” adding too, “Dell is repositioning its mobile products portfolio to take advantage of both the resurgence of the 2-in-1 market and the continued growth of the traditional form factor laptop.”
Now, Dell is not abandoning existing devices. The hardware company promises it will still provide support and other services for current Android-based Venue tablets until their contract with users (warranties) expire. However, Dell will not offer any Venue tablet OS upgrades (even while Android continues to update, which means Venue users will not be able to take advantage of the Android 6.0 battery-efficiency upgrade.
