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Dell dials up smartphones, ex-Motorola exec
Nov 13, 2009 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Dell Inc. confirmed Friday its long-rumored plans to get into smartphones, a new business for the computer maker that is being led by Motorola Inc.'s former mobile phone chief.
"Our entry into the smartphone category is a logical extension of Dell's consumer product evolution over the past two years," Ron Garriques, president of Dell's Global Consumer Group, said in a statement.
Garriques unexpectedly jumped to Dell in February 2007 after a high-profile stint leading Motorola's mobile phone division, where he oversaw the meteoric success of the Razr phone but struggled to follow up the success of the hit device. Garriques' role at Dell was a newly created post, and his arrival fostered speculation that the Texas-based computer maker would be delving into mobile phones.
Several leaders of the smartphone project are based in Chicago, though they're part of a large team spread worldwide, a Dell spokesman said Friday.
Dell said it will distribute its Mini 3 smartphone in China through China Mobile and Claro, a Brazilian wireless carrier that is owned by Latin American telecommunications giant America Movil. China Mobile has more than 500 million subscribers and Claro has more than 42 million customers. Dell did not say when its phones would be launched in the U.S., though the company did say it has agreements with AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
The Mini 3 runs on Android, an operating platform created by Google that is quickly ramping up to compete with Apple's software for the iPhone. Motorola, under the leadership of co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha, is also planning a barrage of Android smartphones in hopes that the rejuvenated portfolio will reverse years of losses at the company's mobile phone division.
wawong@tribune.com
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