Dell Could Beat Apple in the Post-PC World

Right nevertheless, the market appears to be positioning itself for the post-PC era and both Dell and Apple appear to be the most aggressive at transforming themselves into companies that can ride this then wave. Nevertheless, during Apple is more vocal, each company is going about it differently and each is utilizing its own unequalled strengths.

One of the initial issues I have with this concept is that it is defined for what it isn't as opposed to what it is. I think we all can see that smartphones, tablets and even MP3 players are eclipsing PCs on the client side, and the concept of cloud computing is driving the server side. Few appear to be good at both and it would appear that post-PCs will be a blend of cloud and unparalleled client devices. Strangely enough, Google seemed to see this first, nevertheless its execution has been marred by an excessive focus on advertising-based offerings and an apparent inability to create high-quality offerings.

This brings up hardware vendors, with Apple and Dell appearing to be the most focused out of the PC segment. Apple is strong on the client side and has the most popular smartphone and tablet, now on the cloud side, it is relatively weak. In terms of profit, it isn't coming from its PCs, yet from its alternative devices, which is turning Apple into a true post-PC company.

The alternative track

Dell is on the alternative track. Near two-thirds of its revenue come from services, storage, servers and other back-office solutions that are being wrapped into cloud bundles and not from PCs. It just had one of its most profitable quarters, largely because it, too, has positioned itself as a post-PC company.

I'm the first to say that there is a big gap between "could" and "will" and suggesting any company might win over Apple might turn you into Mac fan flamebait. However I'm feeling brave today, so here goes.

If the goal is to create an end-to-end solution with a unequalled client tied to a robust backend that serves it, Dell appears to be furthermore along. Even the opportunity of this is uplifting Dell's stock at this stage. Apple exited the server business and during it does have software properties like FileMaker that can be used as connectors, Apple is best when it contains the solution, not when it has to work through others. This is in fact true of most vendors as what if not happens are problems grow out of the inability for two or more separate companies to stay on the same page with regard to roadmap or execution.

Dell, like Apple, has a strong client business and it is meanwhile dabbling in smartphones and tablets. Opposite, Apple isn't even dabbling in servers anymore and if this new post-PC market becomes a blend of both, at the time Dell to tell the truth has the strategic advantage, now it will on the whole have to execute better than it is on the client side, or like Apple, it will only have part of the solution.

The business market

One additional thought is that for the business market, particularly the midmarket, Dell is tightly focused on related solutions, during Apple is just starting to acknowledge that there is a market that could be lucrative. Nevertheless closer in the beginning doesn't always mean first to the finish line.

"Could" is the operative word here, and marketing in line with what Louis Gerstner had at IBM is critical to convince the market this is the case, now I think Dell can do it. On paper, I think Dell has a better mix of technologies, particularly afterwards recent key acquisitions like Kace, which can address the iPad's business shortcomings that will be needed to complete this solution, yet Apple is massively dominant in the new, key client technologies that are currently trending. The key could as a matter of fact be that the market has but locked down on the ideal client device.

The future the tablet and/or smartphone future

Even Apple isn't calling the future the "tablet and/or smartphone" future, however the "post-PC" future. That suggests that the client isn't but, even in Apple's mind, locked down but, yet on the cloud side where Dell exists, there appears to be no doubt in Microsoft, Google, EMC, IBM, or Dell's mind where in other words going. If Dell can lock down an alternative to the iPad previously Apple can figure out the cloud, Dell could become the firm that defines this post-PC world.

One final thought: Apple's key mistake may be a repeat of what it did when it had the huge campaign against Vista instead of calling out Windows or Microsoft. When Microsoft changed the name to Windows 7, it effectively side-stepped all of Apple's work. By not better-defining what the post-PC era is, Apple is allowing companies like Dell step in and ride the wave it is creating.

____"Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, won't release a competitor to Apple Inc. and Google Inc.'s tablet operating systems until the 2012 back-to- school season, people with knowledge of the plans said."

____"So at heart, it took Microsoft 3 years to come up with a first generation iPhone competitor. I can't wait for the Windows iPad competitor to be released in 2013."

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