A deal between Google and Dell has finally come to fruition: some computer owners, after booting up for the first time, are being greeted by the phrase “Welcome to your new Dell PC – in partnership with Google.”
In late May, as our own David Utter reported, “the rumored deal between Dell and Google that will place Google’s presence and software on Dell’s OEM machines became official.” It seems as if Dell’s factories have now caught up with Google’s Press Center.
Jason Calacanis documented the existence of these “co-branded” computers, and provided a screenshot of the welcome message from Google and Dell. He then took this long-foreseen event as a sign of much bigger things to come.
“I predict that in 2007 Google will release an Operating System and a super discount PC,” Calacanis wrote. “Think, a $300-400 PC all-in-on[e] unit that is sold at cost in order to make money off of their services.”
He believed that, if such a thing were to happen, Microsoft would take a major hit. “Think about being Dell or Gateway and being offered a) a free OS and b) 1-5% of the revenue from Adsense on the computer? How can you turn that down when it’s going to be double or triple your margin on a PC?!”
Isabel Wang made some more conservative predictions based on the existence of the welcome message. “Watch this space for Google Domains, Google Apps and Google Docs,” she advised. Wang also mentioned something that could represent an intermediate step between the Dell/Google computers and a true Google PC: “Google Mobile Phone might be on its way as well.”
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Doug is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
