Yesterday an interesting rumor was picked up by Digitimes, reporting that "sources" claimed Dell and HP were "reducing their investments" in 10-inch netbooks. Within hours, other online outlets picked the story up and raised the ante with even more sensational headlines.
Ironically enough it was also April Fools Day – but whether this was meant as joke or not, let's set the record straight: For Dell, what is being reported has no basis in fact.
The Inspiron Mini 10 netbook remains an important member of our mobile platform portfolio and is a great secondary companion device as people appreciate the compact size and the ability to stay connected on the go, whether they are traveling across town or across the country. To underscore this, wireless carriers around the world increasingly are offering netbooks with built in Mobile Broadband, delivering anywhere, anytime connections. For example last week at CTIA, T-Mobile announced its first netbook offering will be the Dell Mini 10, available through T-Mobiles online and select stores. Clear also announced that will carry the Mini 10 with built-in WiMax support for the Clear network, and you can look forward to seeing the Inspiron Mini 10 appearing in more wireless carrier retail outlets latter in the year.
Netbooks are also an excellent platform for innovation around purpose-built devices that fit perfectly between the Smartphone and a full-featured laptop. For example, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 offers bundles with features that focus on Entertainment (HD screen, HD Video accelerator and surround sound, even a built-in HD TV receiver) and Travel (GPS with turn by turn navigation and location based service portal that highlights local attraction and events).
So, be assured that the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is not going anywhere. Dell is committed to offering a variety of products so people have a choice of devices to meet their computing needs.