Dell may get serious about product design

Michael Dell has been quickly making some necessary changes to his namesake PC maker.

First, comes a shakeup. Second, comes a revamped consumer division. Dell announced that it has named Ron Garriques to serve as president of Dell's global consumer business starting Feb. 19.

Garriques (at left) was most recently president of Motorola's mobile device division. Garriques division rolled out a series of new product designs earlier this week at 3GSM.

Dell? Consumer?

For a company that totally missed the boat on selling to consumers, Dell's latest move is quite a turnabout. Michael Dell apparently got the memo about the intersection of business and consumer and its importance.

But hiring Garriques is only part of the story. Dell 2.0 seems to be giving product design some priority.

In a statement Michael Dell said:

"We are asking Ron to create a new global consumer organization that will set new standards for innovative product design, leadership in providing the best customer experience, and flexibility in how we build and distribute products and services to meet the evolving needs of our customers around the world."

Garriques will be in charge all consumer products including PCs, software, peripherals and product design. It remains to be seen if Dell can become Apple-ish with its product design, but it bears watching.

At Motorola Garriques division was charged with "best mobile experiences through the design, innovation and creation of compelling and seamlessly connected mobile solutions, such as handsets and accessories, for businesses and consumers."

For its part, Motorola, which has its own struggles, is replacing Garriques with Ray Roman, senior vice president of global sales, and Terry Vega, senior vice president of global devices. Vega and Roman will be interim co-heads of Motorola's mobile devices division.