Analyst: Wyse to boost Dell's PC play

With PC and laptops sales remaining flat globally and enterprise customers migrating to virtualized and cloud-based IT environments, Dell's purchase of Wyse Technology will help increase attractiveness of its PCs as well as enhance its virtualized desktop offering to better compete with more established IT shops such as Hewlett-Packard (HP).

Krista Macomber, analyst of computing and storage practice at TBR, said the Wyse acquisition is "an aggressive step" by Dell to bring its IT solutions strategy closer to its traditional strength in PCs. The PC maker announced the deal on Monday, but did not disclose terms, according to a report by ZDNet Asia's sister site, ZDNet.

"From the core PC customer base to its newly formed software division, Dell is aligning its corporate strategy to build its reputation as an end-to-end, enterprise-caliber solutions provider to remain relevant in an IT industry migrating to as-a-service delivery models," she explained.

The analyst pointed out that Dell will not stop selling PCs even as growth and revenue slows across the industry, as its vast small and midsize business customers rely on its machines for everyday operations.

With Wyse's thin client technology, though, this will expand the PC maker's Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) portfolio and enable it to sell bundled IT offerings with higher profit margins, she stated.

"Wyse enhances Dell's VDI value proposition by dramatically expanding the number of thin client offerings and providing an expansive existing customer base, better enabling it to compete against established desktop virtualization competitors such as HP and Cisco," Macomber pointed out.