“Dell reportedly took the wraps off its China-only smartphone project early Monday in China with the launch of the Dell Mini3i, according to the Chinese blog Netease. I’m not sure how this device relates to earlier attempts by Dell to enter the smartphone market, but judging by the Mini3i’s specs, it’s not hard to see why U.S. carriers have so far been unimpressed with Dell’s mobile device efforts,” Ian Paul reports for PC World.
“The biggest downside to the Mini3i is that it is a 2G phone with no 3G or Wi-Fi capability. Reported specs on the Mini3i include a 3.5-inch touch screen with 360 x 640 resolution, mini USB port, SD card slot (no word on maximum storage size) and a 3.2-megapixel camera. Netease also says the Mini3i has no physical keyboard, and runs an Android-based operating system designed by China Mobile called Open Mobile System (OMS),” Paul reports. “The Mini3i’s design is reminiscent of the Palm Pre with its rounded edges.”
Paul reports, “There was no mention of a launch date for Chinese customers, and it’s not clear if a similar device would launch in the United States. Must have features for a U.S.-version of this device are obviously 3G capability and Wi-Fi, without those two basic ingredients the Mini3i wouldn’t be able to gain any traction against some of the more popular smartphones available today such as the iPhone…”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dell fails to wow. In related “news,” water is wet.
Of course it doesn’t have WiFi. Chinese government doesn’t want it to have it, just like the Chinese iPhone will not have it.
Looks like a cheap knockoff of some “other” phone – without the features, quality, name, etc. etc. Utter crap as usual from Dell.
Proof Dell does not discriminate. They serve up turds to the Chinese as well as everybody else.
This is what the Chinese get for sending us lead-painted toys.
Font of Zulu’s Revenge!
China only? Why does Dell hate the Chinese so much?
Dell may hate the Chinese but will the Chinese buy that crappy phone
Why do they bother? How much can you sell a phone like that for? $49? iPhone 3G is only $99. i can’t undertand why these companies are aiming their products at the market of 2 years ago. Aim for next year’s competition today and maybe you’ll have a chance.
Scottm4321:
iPhone costs around $500-600. What you pay upfront ($99) is a downpayment, and the rest of it you pay during your two-year contract.
There is no way this Dell device could fetch anything north of $250, especially in the Chinese market. Not even if in China you CAN get a multi-year contract with a subsidised device (and a low upfront payment). I have no doubt, the profit margin on this device will be razor thin, which is actually par for course for Dell…
I bet it won’t have the famous light leaks of the iPhone
Can we please stop calling every new smart phone that is introduced an “iPhone Killer”? Do you think the boys and girls in the media can start exercising some creativity? And how about also exercising some intelligence!! Any fool realizes that a smart phone made for China has certain needs and 3G is not one of them! Even the iPhone had a some missing features when it was introduced, and it still does today. (Can you say HD Radio Tuner? This is a GREAT move on the part of Zune.)
This could be a smart move by Dell. Starting out in China instead of the US or Europe will give them time to work out the bugs. It could sell as more of a camera phone than a full smartphone. This would be like their PC marketing. Sell a lot of cheep products with low margins making your competition race you to the bottom. While the rest of the handset makers are spending their R&D;money to compete with iPhone and BB, Dell will take their low end away from them.
mini3i phone? as in i phone? good god, dell, how low have you sunk?
I pointed out last week that the rumored Dellphone was 2G, not 3G.
The Chinese with yank the guts out of it and put it into an iPhone body and sell it for 10 bucks along with a 10 dollar Rolex.
North Americans will buy it when on vacation in big cities from guys on street corners wearing trench coats.
You just watch….
Joshthe iMacGuy:
This is exactly like it has been for the past 8 years with the iPod; every new MP3 player was “The iPod killer”. I guess it will take about 5-6 years for them to give up on the “iPhone killer” labels.
As for HD radio, you honestly can’t be serious. I can’t think of any one person in my circle of hundreds (at work and elsewhere) who uses FM (let alone “HD”) radio anymore. The fact that Zune has it actually proves my point…
And Sarasota too:
Neither BB, nor iPhone have ANY low end of the cellphone, not even smartphone, market. Both companies chose NOT to compete there. Should Dell decide to expand beyond China and enter other global markets, if it goes for the low-end, it may affect Nokia or Samsung (or Palm’s Treo), but not iPhone or BB.
Dell’s “expertise” is in selling hardware with razor-thin margins. I’m sure they’ll leverage that “expertise” with this phone.
Buster – Maybe you can get a two-fer on those street corner knockoffs. Say one Rolix watch and a Dull phone for $15?
Put vaseline on it and stick it where the sun don’t shine
Water is wet . . . .
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@ Predrag:
I am sorry if I did not make myself clear. I did not mean Dell would compete with the iPhone or BB. I meant the other phone makers who are trying to make smart phones and have low end phones.
Thank you, “if it goes for the low-end, it may affect Nokia or Samsung (or Palm’s Treo)” Those were the companies I thought would race Dell to the bottom. You said it better than I did.
@josh & sarasotatwo
there is really no bottom market. people “aspire” for the iphone. it is the pinnacle of function. everything else tries to catch up. “features” such as HD tuners won’t capture the imagination of the market. there was a day when it might, but those days became passe with the introduction of iphone v1. once people see what the possibilities are, there is no real looking back. that’s what a revolutionary product does. the direction the iphone started creates a product category that is not phone centric. “phone” is in the name because people needed a reference point. just like the first cars were called horseless carriages, not automobiles.
sure, some (actually many) people cannot afford the full load of unsubsidized cost. that’s where apple will fill-in the market they defined. they are actually using part of dell’s model to do it. their massive economies of scale in component cost, leveraged design and third party added functionality make them the only company that can successfully define that market. that will not keep others from trying, but succeeding is another issue. they will keep trying to “capture” market, while apple keeps defining.
just like there is really never going to be an iphone killer, unless apple develops it. copying and one upping the iphone will not kill it. just like the ipod, apple defined a market that already existed. others can enter the market, but apple is in the business of creating markets. they are the best example of a blue ocean company.
@JoshtheiMacGuy: “Even the iPhone had a some missing features when it was introduced, and it still does today. (Can you say HD Radio Tuner? This is a GREAT move on the part of Zune.)”
You’re confusing “missing” with “unwanted”. A majority of the people could care less about FM radio. If it was such a high demand feature, the iPod never would’ve sold as well as it did.
Peter has tried, in at least one other story to be some cool poster by writing inflammatory remarks. Oops.
Peter the troll. NO one is biting here either… Get a life Loser. Epic Fail….
@JoshtheiMacGuy
What is radio?
I agree with the above comments about adding radio as a feature. Why would people want to listen to radio when they can actually choose what they listen to in the form of podcasts, genious playlists, or custom music playlists. That’s the whole idea with the iphone and ipod is that….believe it or not…it plays music! As well as whatever other type of audio you want it to play. And if you REALLY wanna listen to the radio, download Pandora, it’s free….
The curios thing here is why would China Mobile need Dell for this? It wouldn’t be manufactured in the US. Most phone makers already can engineer an iPhone knock off. Plus it runs the Android OMS.
On the low end Dell is already getting a lot of competition, and I would guess outside of the States it will be outcompeted.