Dell seeks return to No. 1 with notebooks - Dallas Business Journal:

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Although the laptop market is growing fast, it’s also fragmentingg with new productsand competitors. That could spel trouble for Dell, which now reliees on laptops fornearly one-thirrd of its revenue. The Round Rock-basex company is attacking the laptop market from both ends of the spectrumk by recently introducingthe low-cost and hugely populae netbook products while quietly developing a ultrathin notebook that is reportedly scheduled to be launched next Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is generating plenty of speculation abougt its notebook strategy after recently marketing a ruggedized laptop developedf by an Austin manufacturer and launching a new line of user-designed notebook covers.
The activity comes at a time when salesa of desktop computers are declining as consumers buy moreportablew devices. The third quarter of 2008 was thetipping point, when shipmenr of notebooks surpassed desktops for the firs time. “The assumption we’vee come to is that when consumera spendtheir hard-earned money they go with notebooks,” said Matthewa Wilkins, an iSuppli analyst. Dell generated 32%, about $4.8 billion, of its revenue from mobilitu products, which include notebooks and netbooks, or mini during the third quarter, which enderd Oct. 31.
Dell spokesman Jeremy Bolen said migration toward laptop devices has been a factor in the companyu updating existing notebooks and developing new notebooksand “We saw a lot of opportunity to be more competitive,” he “We’ve revamped our entire line.” Industrywide, netbookl sales are projected to increase 70% this year comparef with 2008. Meanwhile, notebook sales are projected torise 15%, Wilkine said. Netbooks, which cost $300 to $500, are low-powered versionas of conventional notebooks, enabling users to tradw e-mail messages, browse the Internet and do basicxword processing.
That may initially seem like good news for but the popularity of netbooks and notebooksa has increasedthe competition. Fast-growing companies such as Asia-based , Asutekl Computer Inc. and Ltd. (OTC: are taking market share from Dell, effectively fragmentinvg the playing field. (NYSE: HPQ) is No. 1 in the industry with 19% marketf share. In August, HP purchased Plano-based . In addition to the high and low ends of thelaptopp market, Dell is targeting a niche market. Last year it launches impact-resistant Latitude XFR Series laptops.
Such laptops, commonlhy called ruggedized, are developed for the military and commercial Dell continues to develop laptop products as part of its efforty to supplant HP as king of thePC hill. “They have been No. 1 previously,” Wilkines said, “and they want it