Dell (DELL) may be taking a page from the Apple (AAPL) marketing manual. A PC with extraordinary features and a beautiful case will sell for more than $2,000, at least to some people. The Apple Mac has dominated the $1,000 plus PC market for the last two years. Dell means to get a larger portion of that market.
The No.2 PC firm is releasing the Latitude Z 600. The machine will be .57 inches in thickness and have a 16 inch screen according to Engadget. It will use a Core 2 Duo processor. And, it will cost more than $2,000. With a full array of features, that price could go much higher.
Dell is feeling its oats. It has bought Perot Systems (PER) to build out its IT consulting business. It still holds a large share of the global market for PCs sold to businesses. It has not done as well selling to consumers, but has expanded aggressively into China to help remedy that.
The Latitude Z is not much of a gamble on Dell’s part. Its features will burnish the company’s brand. The machine is too expensive to sell a large number of units, but it makes Dell look like it can compete in the Mac stratosphere and that has PR advantages all its own.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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