News Bits: Dell Buys Alienware, Asus #5 in Europe, No Vista on Macs

Dell buys Alienware!

Well, it looks like Dell actually bought Alienware. It comes as a shock, but it isn't a bad thing. The deal has a lot of implications, both big and small.

Implications - there are several possibilities. The deal could go a number of ways. Will Alienware incorporate Dell's industrial design and 'world-class' support, or will they remain on their own path? As for Michael Dell - is he going to stay as he is or become the next Steve Jobs? And another concern that will grow over this deal - processors. Will Alienware drop AMD systems, or will AMD grab Dell through the back door?

The possibilities are mind-boggling, but there is one more implication to be taken into account, and that is the next line of products.

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Asustek could be top-five in Europe this year

In 2005, Asustek ranked #7 in Europe, with sales of 860,000 notebooks. Their ranking climbed to #4 in Eastern Europe, and #2 in Russia last year as well.

This year, Asustek is expecting to ship 1.8 million notebooks in Europe, and enter the regional top-five ranking, according to Eric Chen, General Manager of the European Sales and Marketing Group at Asustek. Demand for notebooks in Eastern Europe is expected to grow 30-40% in 2006, and adding that large market will help Asustek move up to the top three.

In addition to just notebooks, Asustek plans to launch its own-brand LCD TVs, network DVDs and Skype phones in the second half of this year in Europe, said Chen.

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Prices for 15.4" Notebook Panels to Continue Dropping

The average selling prices for 15.4" notebook panels are expected to continue dropping through the end of March/April, stabilizing at the end of the second quarter, when demand is supposed to rise.

In the first half of March, the prices for notebook panels dropped to USD $130, which is down from $142 in the first half of Feb. Why the drop? Reduced procurement from downstream vendors, said sources.

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Vista is Not Availableon Macs

Since Apple made the switch to Intel processors, groups of people have been trying to port Mac OS X to non-Apple hardware. However, people trying it the other way around, getting Windows XP to run on a Mac, is an entirely different challenge. XP isn't going to work it seems, and it now appears as if it is the same case for Windows Vista. Not being able to run Vista on a Mac is due to lack of EFI support in the 32-bit version of Windows Vista.

VM software is so cheap, it seems logical to run Windows or Linux in a VM, and it is - it should be attractive for a large group of people, and since both Mac OS X and Windows Xp are native x86 operating systems, the performance hit of a VM should be minimal.
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista will have EFI support chips, and therefore installing it on an Intel Conroe processor could be possible.

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AMD Turion X2 at ceBIT 2006

This year at CeBIT, MSI showcased its new mobile solutions, including some with AMD Turion X2 processors. The notebooks on display, such as the S271, feature DDR2 memory, a 12.1" WXGA display, Bluetooth, and WiFi.

MSI notebook at CeBIT 2006(viewlarge image)

MSI also plans to produce a barebone notebook which will use a Turion X2 processor. One such computer, the MEGA mpc51PV will feature integrated grahpics, 7.1 channel surround sound, optional WiFi, and a multi-format card reader. Read More . . .

Taiwan Notebook Battery Specialists have strong 1H

Taiwanese companies Simplo Technology and DynaPack International Technology are going to have a strong performance during the first half of this year due to new shipments to vendors. The vendors include Dell and Apple, all according to (Chinese) Economic Daily News.

Shipments to Dell are the key to Simplo's FY shipments in 2006, and the monthly sales are going to start increasing in March due to orders for the new MacBook Pro.

DynaPack International will be issuing new shipments of batteries to Dell during the second half of 2006.

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Lucky AW... After all the llegal practices and harassing its customers, it managed to get away selling the company off without any well deserved law-suit on it .... I so wished those ba****** got some payback.

 

Turion X2 with intergrated video? ouch. its like those Intel Core Duos with the GMA950, not much use except for saving batteries and doing office work. but of course if you are doing office work u DONT need an ATI or Nvidia with 128mb vram.

 

I wander then, what 'efi' folder is doing on my Vista CTP DVD (32bit)?...

 

This link on CNet says that Dell has NOT bought Alienware http://news.com.com/2100-1003_3-6049853.html?part=rss&tag=6049853&subj=news

Checking up on Dell's press-releases, there hasn't been anything put out by the company either regarding the purchase of AW.

 

CNET is always behind on everything. They just now got around to writing something that responds to the rumor. I'll take what the other site says and I think a "I told ya so" is appropriate here. I don't like Alienware and this is just another reason to not like Dell.

And although Turion64 x2 would have gotten me excited a month ago, unfortunately there are just too many drawbacks when compared to the competition.

 

Right, but why didn't Dell release a press statement of any kind to investors?

>> http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/quotes.asp?symb=DELL&vc=&siteid=mktw&dist=dropmenu

>> http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DELL

Dell can get into a LOT of trouble from the SEC if it doesn't reveal this in a timely manner, so I highly doubt the company has formally made the purchase yet.

 

Companies always downplay rumors of them making a huge move. My guess is that they're dragging this out and trying to milk some money from the suspense or working out specifics of the deal right now. The SEC might already know but no one may report it yet. These big companies always have a harness around the way things like this come out.

For the company my dad works for the "objective" newspapers and media won't publish a single speculatory or negative thing against the company until someone from the company says to do so.