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Dell undecided on whether to put Android or Windows 8 on late-2012 consumer tablets

'Choice' is the key word.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer

Here's the biggest indication yet as to how unconvinced OEMs are when it comes to Windows 8's suitability for tablets - PC giant Dell is still undecided as to whether it wants to use Windows 8 on its consumer tablets or Android.

Speaking with Reuters, Dell chief commercial officer Steve Felice says that the OEM giant learned from the mistakes its rivals such as HP, RIM and Motorola (not to mention the mistakes it made with its own Streak 7), made and now has a better understanding of how consumers now value the 'ecosystem' as much as the actual hardware itself.

'You will see us enter this market in a bigger way toward the end of the year,' said Felice. 'So we are not really deemphasizing it, we are really being very careful how we enter it.'

But what OS will be powering Dell's tablets? Felice is non-committal.

'We like Windows 8 but we continue to develop with Android as well. We are still going to be more choice-driven, based on the feedback we get from customers.'

Ohhh, there's that word ... choice. It's funny that Dell doesn't give PC buyers much of a choice as to what OS they get (It's pretty much Windows or nothing), but when it comes to tablets there's talk of choice. That's interesting, especially when combined with the earlier ecosystem comment. Is it that Dell wants consumers to have a choice, or is the company worried that there initially won't be much of an ecosystem supporting Windows 8 tablets and is hedging its bets.

Interesting to see such uncertainty at this state from a big OEM.

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