Dell Venue And Venue Pro Smartphones Gets The Axe In America

Here's another Dell device you're not getting, dude: a smartphone.

A few months after discontinuing its Streak tablet series, Dell announced that it would stop production and sales of its Venue and Venue Pro smartphones in America. The Venue phones, which run the Android and Windows Phone operating systems, remain on sale in India and other parts of Asia, though you will no longer be able to find them in any American venues.

According to a spokesperson talking to AllThingsD, the company has plans to release new "mobility devices" later in the year, including both smartphones and tablets. That tablet could be a reference to the Windows 8 slates that Dell has said it's determined to release by the end of 2012. The next version of Windows, with its "Metro" interface, is designed to be touch-and-swipe friendly, and several companies, including Dell, believe it could be the key to challenging the iPad's dominance in the tablet market.

For now, Dell appears focused on making that tablet, as well as desktop and laptop computers and smartphones that are not the Venue or Venue Pro. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Dell appeared to return to its bread-and-butter, showing off a new XPS 13 Ultrabook; the thin, light laptop received solid reviews when it was released earlier in March.

Dell is also focused on its enterprise services and support capabilities, as CEO Michael Dell recently told CNBC; Dell referred to his company as an "end-to-end solutions provider" rather than a PC manufacturer in that interview, as noted by AllThingsD.

As the company finds its focus, Dell has been paring its product line of unsuccessful devices, discontinuing its Streak 5 and Streak 7 tablets and ending its production of Netbooks in December.

The Venue and Venue Pro smartphones are the latest casualties. Though the Dell Venue sales page no longer lists any American sales outlets, you can still order Venue and Venue Pro smartphone accessories on the official Dell website.

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Comments

[0u8one2]

07:38 PM on 04/01/2012

all dell is junk.

[Lordcron]

01:36 AM on 03/31/2012

You really can't get into the smartphone game without kicking up a lot of attention. First you need to make a phone or tablet that's doing something no one else on the market is doing. Then you need a PR person to really drive that message home on how that functions gonna change the consumers life. You really can't just get into this market this late in the game and expect to rule it.

I fear for American companies because we have basically gave the computing market to the Koreans and other foreign companies and let them dominate it. Apple is our last great leader on that front and if they don't get something that will compete aginst the phones like Galaxy Note soon they'll find themselves shut out also.

[Zen Diesel]

03:56 PM on 03/31/2012

Apple will be just fine, a rapid cult fanbase will support them infinitely. Samsung is only grabbing up the ones that haven't drank the Apple Kool Aid. Samsung could make a phone that swim laps around the iphone, unless android could replace all my ios apps for free with the same quality, i wouldn't even think about trading in my iphone.

[KarateKid]

08:13 PM on 03/30/2012

And, watch, when they come out with those phones running 8, they'll tout it as an iPhone alternative like it's the best thing since sliced bread, and it will fall flat on its face.....again.

[bryanzth]

08:56 PM on 03/31/2012

MS says that its Vista 8 will be just great. But listen. I just got done with using Vista 7 on a pretty standard laptop. It is still clumsy in so many interface details. I mean, since, let's say, Win98, if they haven't figured out interface by now, does any MS-fanboi really think that trading in icons for tiles really will? ;o)

I agree, it's gonna require massive training and development in some sectors. Of course power users will gloat that nothing's wrong, but heck, they're the 1% who drive the bad design at MS.

BZ.

[mikefly562]

08:56 AM on 03/30/2012

Dells are terrible computers, the company I work for uses dell, and all my coworkers complain about broken laptops, etc. I would never buy dell.

[gerryf]

10:07 AM on 03/31/2012

Which computers? Dell sells several different lines, some which were never intended for business use, where computers tend to get beaten up quite a bit (people don;t take care of computers they don't own). I've been in companies that buy cheap lines instead of spending a little more and they end up with problems. Businesses should avoid the consumer marketed products like the plague.

[ScottNY]

01:21 AM on 04/01/2012

My Dell workstations and servers work well in my office. In terms of reliability they rival HP.

[Owen Meaney]

08:31 AM on 03/30/2012

Dell sucks. Never again will I buy their products

[JT54]

08:22 AM on 03/30/2012

I've used Dell PCs and laptops for over a decade and seldom had any problems. I did have a motherboard go out post warranty and Dell replaced it free of charge. They make a rugged, affordable product. I still have the first laptop I bought from them 9 years ago. Replaced the video card and it's running like new. Slow compared to today's standards , but good enough to access the internet.

[pfz]

03:44 PM on 03/30/2012

You replaced a video card in a laptop? Really? Dell gave you a motherboard after your warranty expired? Was it part of the recall or law suit? otherwise I am doubting your veracity.

[JT54]

04:41 PM on 04/03/2012

I'm telling the truth. There is nothing to replacing a video card. Snaps right in. And Dell did install a new motherboard for free. No charge. Even paid for shipping there and back. Never had any problems. Still buy stuff from them. But I can see how a bad experience would turn someone off the product. I would probably do the same thing.

[KarateKid]

08:14 PM on 03/30/2012

I bought a laptop for my daughter when she went off to college, then had to buy another brand when the Dell literally fell apart and they would not stand behind their product. Never again will I ever buy a Dell.

[quedog]

06:08 AM on 03/30/2012

dell is a great company for people who want cheep products that are 2 years behind the product that everyone really wants

[jeffrideal]

07:23 AM on 03/30/2012

On the PC side maybe, but on the enterprise side they are making game changing products. The most undervalued tech stock today.

[grizzly bear55]

07:28 AM on 03/30/2012

What he meant is TOYS, they are behind.\ the rest especially apple.

I am not interest in any smart phones or gadgets that interests young kids.

[quedog]

10:03 AM on 03/30/2012

actually worked at dell for 10 years as senior technical staff member
you have not looked at the competition
dell does not innovate anything and has not do so for 15 years

[maigoro]

03:42 AM on 03/30/2012

Dell makes really good servers and cheap.

[King7David]

02:49 AM on 03/30/2012

Dell? Are you kidding me?

[Fan Tastic]

12:44 AM on 03/30/2012

couple pieces of pure junk!

[Scott Weiner]

12:24 AM on 03/30/2012

Dell used to be the best. Why? Customer service was killer.

The computers are all the same but Dell's customer service was second to none.

Then they got rid of the customer service and their computers became a commodity.

They are done.

[King7David]

02:49 AM on 03/30/2012

Excellent point.

[jeffrideal]

07:20 AM on 03/30/2012

The point that Michael Dell made is what you apparently missed. Dell is not a PC maker anymore. They sell storage, servers, software and everything else in the enterprise and they do it very well. The PC is only 15 % of their business. Get a clue.

[Scott Hooten]

11:59 PM on 03/29/2012

For those of you that keep saying Apple is dead I am LOL while typing this on my Mac Mini which is the only PC (which really isn't one it's more of a TV box) I have left after the great Bastrop County, Texas complex fire and I don't plan on replacing any of my windows PCs anytime soon. Much less with Dells. Which by the way Dell world headquarters in Round Rock is only 30 miles from my house. So if they can't get me to buy Dell they are screwed.

[jjhuddle]

09:01 AM on 03/30/2012

You obviously don't know a thing about Dell if you think they care if you buy a personal computer. They make cheaper computers for people who don't need top-of-the-line stuff purposely. That's the main reason they outsource helpdesk issues too; they don't care about the PC market. They do however service more enterprises than any other company in the US with Servers, cloud space, and business solutions. So they can do without your $600 pretty easily.

Good job overpaying for a computer that I could build for $275 though.

[kurtvb]

09:50 AM on 03/30/2012

It is not really a question of the components, although they do matter to an extent, it is the OS that makes the difference. OS X is lightyears better than anything MS has put out and Windows 8 will still be behind. Linux, with its disparate flavors is better than Windows. The only thing that hold Linux back is that there is no one or major,company pushing it, which leaves the market confused.

[Scott Hooten]

11:46 AM on 03/30/2012

Dell is a consumer PC manufacture and device maker (LOL on the device maker) . They used to be good at and still are some what in business servers, services, and PCs but they are still mainly a consumer PC manufacture. Their major competition is HP (which kills them at all the above yet still has horrible devices as well), Gateway (which is in worse shape and doesn't have a business side or devices to speak of BTW) and Lenova (mainly a business PC brand with almost no consumer side; which where Dell is headed to which isn't to good, Lenova was once known as IBM). I worked in their plant for a contractor before they sent most of them over seas. So I know about Dell. They aren't a dinosaur but they are on the severely endangered list if they can't get a device going like Apple. They will become a PC dinosaur company. Especially when I see these cheaper no name brands walking off the self at wal-mart and best buy. Every has the opinion that PC quality is all about the same which it is roughly, thank you windows.

Oh about over paying for the Mac Mini I have had a PC version of this device I'll over pay again and again. The only think I find super over priced in the Mac world are their monitor which I don't use I use the HDMI option and hook it to my TV.

[MRLeavey]

11:55 PM on 03/29/2012

Title should read: "Two More Gadgets Kill Off Dell"

[Hapakanaka]

11:42 PM on 03/29/2012

Love my Dell Streak 5.

[calls it as I sees it]

11:27 PM on 03/29/2012

Dell is going to lose out even worse than they did before. The only things they were really known for was a tv ad dork, a gaming computer, and a contract with the government (USMC) anyways to sell us their jalopy computers.

[jeffrideal]

07:25 AM on 03/30/2012

If your name is correct, you must be blind.

[calls it as I sees it]

03:29 PM on 03/30/2012

Why must I be blind? Are you seeing something different? Must be a Dell fan, I however am not so I "Calls it as I sees it"