Dell to focus on luxury laptops and back PC production

On the topic of Dell, from the telegraph.co.uk website:

The struggling US company, which announced plans to axe 1,900 Irish jobs last week, launched its foray into the high-end market, where it will compete with Apple's popular MacBook Air at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The ultra-thin polished aluminum 13" screen Adamo - Latin for to fall in love with - laptop will go on sale worldwide at some point in the first-half of this year. Dell refused to state how much the new model will cost but it is expected to retail for about the same as Apple's $1,800 (£1,180) MacBook Air.

The Company said: "Adamo will be the new luxury franchise in the Dell brand line-up". It said consumer demand has shifted away from cheap and cheerful products to high-specification models. Ed Boyd, Dell's vice-president of consumer experience design, said the "death of the utilitarian PC has occurred."

Dell said now was the right time for the company to enter the luxury market despite collapsing consumer demand for electronics. Brent Wampler, Dell's director of global product marketing, said: "Consumers now want high performance laptops that can be tailored more personally to them."

Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, said: "For years, Dell has been known for low-cost designs and being able to offer efficient delivery. With this laptop, Dell is looking to make a [design] statement."

The company also launched a new 10 inch netbook, mini laptop, to join its 9-inch and 12-inch models. Netbooks are the fastest-growing part of the PC market.

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