Dell is rebranding its PCs in ways that resemble Apple’s naming conventions in an effort to boost demand.
Old product names, such as “XPS” and “Inspiron,” will be replaced by a more simplified brand that revolves around the word Dell for its new generation of devices, the company announced this Monday (6), ahead of CES, the annual consumer electronics show taking place this week.
“Customers really prefer names that are easy to remember and pronounce,” said chief operating officer Jeff Clarke in a press conference before the show. Buyers shouldn’t spend time “trying to decipher our nomenclature, which has sometimes been a little confusing,” he said.
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PC sales have been weak for years following a buying frenzy at the start of the pandemic. Dell and competitors like HP and Lenovo are trying new strategies to encourage upgrades. Systems optimized by artificial intelligence and the imminent end of support for Microsoft’s Windows 10 have been touted as catalysts for new purchases.
Now, most of the company’s new PCs will be divided into three categories: Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max.
Conference attendees quickly questioned the similarities with the way Apple names its devices. Recent iPhone generations also use the names “pro” and “pro max” to differentiate higher category devices.
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“I wonder why you guys didn’t go with something original, because that’s essentially Apple branding here,” joked one attendee. Another commented: “Your brand sounds a lot like Apple — aren’t you just copying them?”
Dell executives defended the choice, saying no one owns words like “pro” or “max.” The decisions were based on surveys of “tens of thousands of customers,” Clarke said. One similarity to Apple’s approach is the way Dell is “anchoring” its products to a simple name, explained Kevin Terwilliger, vice president of Dell’s PC division.
Alienware, the gaming PC brand acquired by Dell in 2006, is not part of the rebrand. Many of the new Dell-branded devices will include neural processing units — chips optimized for artificial intelligence tasks, Terwilliger said in an interview.
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“There is an installed base of 1.5 billion PCs — and it is aging — and those PCs will need to be replaced by AI innovation,” CEO Michael Dell said at the press conference. The new nomenclature “will make it easier for our customers to do business with us.”
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