The number of geeks at SXSW, close to Dell's headquarters in Texas, proved too hard to resist, and it previewed a couple of Adamo laptops at the event. This is Dell's attempt to create what it called "brand lust" with a machine that people desire, even if they don't actually buy it.
Michael Tatelman, Dell's vice president of global consumer sales and marketing, told AP:
"This is a bit more experiential than just a story about a PC. The craftsmanship of this product is more like a fine watch or jewelry," Tatelman said. "I'd like to think that someone getting a gift of a pearl Adamo for an anniversary would be ... proud to get that kind of gift."
The AP story says: "Tatelman seemed unfazed by the challenge of launching a luxury brand in a brutal financial environment. Dell's outlook for Adamo sales is 'very modest,' Tatelman said, and added that a primary goal is to broaden people's perception of Dell from its value-conscious roots."
Dell sells roughly 40 million PCs a year, so the Adamo is never going to make any impact in terms of units. Still, if it sells 400,000 (or 1% of Dell sales) at $2,000 each that's an $800 million business.*
Obviously Dell is moving its product mix upmarket, as we have already seen with the XPS and Studio ranges, and the Adamo is coming in on top of those. This should have the effect of increasing Dell's average selling price, and therefore its profitability. Of course, if the total PC market goes down, as predicted, it's not going to make a lot of difference. But it's unlikely Dell was expecting today's economic climate when the design effort started.
When the full specs are in, the Adamo will be widely compared with Apple's MacBook Air. At the moment, it looks as though Adamo is heavier (4lbs v 3lbs) and slower (1.2GHz v 1.6GHz). You can also get an Air cheaper, with a very slow hard drive, since the Adamo price includes a 128GB SSD. But I don't think it matters, because I can't really see anyone choosing between the two machines. People who want Mac OS X aren't going to buy the Dell, and people who want a portable Windows machine can already buy better products than the Air.
Update: The specification includes the following, with UK prices starting at £1,649:
13.4-inch 16:9 HD display; Draft-Wireless N; Bluetooth 2.1; Mobile Broadband option; up to 5+ hours of battery life (preliminary); 2 USB ports, 1 USB/eSATA combo port, DisplayPort, RJ-45 port; 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium SP1.
It will start shipping worldwide on 26 March.
Dell has photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dellphotos#
* Corrected from a version based on Dell's quarterly, instead of its annual, shipment rate. D'oh.
