Dell readying iPhone rival

LOS ANGELES: Dell Inc is plotting a foray into the cellphone arena as early as next month, making and selling smartphones to revitalise a busine
ss walloped by crumbling PC sales and pitting the firm against Apple, the Wall Street Journal reported.




The world's No. 2 maker of PCs, which has been designing prototypes for over a year, is focusing on smartphones -- the class of high-end devices that encompasses Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry, the newspaper cited people familiar with the matter as saying.

If launched, the phones will be based on Google's Android operating system and Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, it said. One model will even feature a touchscreen, not unlike the iPhone's, the Journal reported.

However, Dell has not finalised its plans and may still abandon them, the Journal added without elaborating.

Shares in Dell climbed 1.4 per cent in after-hours trade, barely denting an 8.6 per cent dive during the regular session to $9.95. Microsoft stock was up 1.3 per cent, and Google shares were holding steady.

Representatives for Dell and Microsoft declined to comment, and Google representatives were not available for comment.

Smartphones – high-end mobile devices that can assume many of the functions found traditionally on PCs, such as playing videos and music -- are the fastest growing segment of the cellphone industry.

IT consultancy IDC expects smartphone shipments to climb 8.9 per cent globally in 2009, far outstripping a decline in the overall worldwide cellphone market.

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