Dell contemplating future mobile platform options

Dell Inc, which intends to focus more on its mobile business, intends to stick with the Android and Windows Mobile development platforms for the time being, a company executive said Wednesday.
The future direction of the Texas-based PC giant's mobile platform would depend on consumer demand, Paul-Henri Ferrand, president of Asia Pacific and Japan at Dell, told a teleconference Wednesday.
The intensifying competition in the market for mobile devices, including smart-phones and tablets, is creating more competition among mobile platforms. Nokia announced a bold move Friday, as its new chief executive Stephen Elop revealed that the company had decided to partner with Microsoft to use the Windows Mobile operating system as its main mobile platform rather than Symbian. Motorola, meanwhile, is likely to drop Windows Mobile for the Android platform solely, said Christy Wyatt, corporate vice president of software and services product management for Motorola, according to media reports.
The market share growth of Apple and RIM's operating systems is likely to slow-down in years to come, given the growing popularity of the Android system and Nokia's boost for the Windows Mobile platform, said Wang Yang, director of China research at market research firm iSuppli in Shanghai. Given that Dell's main strength is in the field of PCs, this should help it in the tablet market, Wang believes, but the company has fewer advantages in the market for smartphones.
Revenue from Dell's business in the Greater China region, including Hong Kong and Macao, grew by 21 percent in the fourth quarter year-on-year, mainly driven by a 43 percent increase in revenue from the public sector, according to Ferrand.