Chasing cool hunters, Dell spruiks customisation

Dell Australia says its new multi-coloured laptop line is just the first step in a plan to sell computers unique to each buyer.

Jeff Morris, Dell's client and computing strategist, said in an interview that customers would soon be able to upload a photograph or logo to Dell, which could then be embedded into their laptop's lid.

He said although internal hardware was still important, how computers looked and felt was now at the "top of the stack" when it came to consumer buying decisions.

"Imagine being able to buy a notebook ... [where] the LCD back potentially has a picture of your family, or has maybe the logo of your football team," said Morris.

"And not a sticker, it's embossed or embedded into the notebook."

Another option would be for customers to have information, such as their name and address, laser etched into the base of the notebook or on the lid.

Last month, Dell revamped its Inspiron laptop line with eight different colour options, including "flamingo pink", "ruby red", "sunshine yellow" and "espresso brown".

Many consumers have long perceived Dell as a bland computer maker offering low-cost, reliable machines, but its recent focus on design could give it cachet among younger, style-conscious buyers.

"[Laptops] are no different to your cell phone right - people want cell phones that look cool but they also want their phone to look different to everybody else's," Morris said.

In Australia, Dell has long played second fiddle to HP in terms of market share.

The latest figures from IDC show Dell has 15.4 per cent of the desktop/laptop computer market, compared to HP's 20.5 per cent. Acer and Toshiba take out the third and fourth spots with 11.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively.

But with the portable computer market growing 32.4 per cent in the year to March (desktop computer sales dropped 1.5 per cent), all of the players are looking to differentiate their products through design.

Morris acknowledged competitors such as HP already offered laptops with various designs laminated into the plastic, but the products "all look the same" and there was no way for the customer to pick their own unique design.

"What I want to do is I want to build a notebook that's YOUR notebook," he said.

Morris admitted that while Dell had always offered complete customisation of internal hardware components, "cool" designs were mostly limited to its high-end XPS line.

"In the mainstream space in terms of the old Inspiron product, the ID [industrial design] has been a bit old, it's been around a long time and we missed the jump on that market, but we're not going to miss it again, and we're going to take it to the next level," he said.

The technology required to completely personalise laptops existed today, he said, but the challenge was to be able to do it on a mass scale - 100,000 units in a week - and deliver the product to the customer within 7-10 days.

"We're working with the people who make all those types of technologies, and seeing how can we take what they have and bring it on a mass production scale into the Dell model," said Morris.

He said it was difficult to put a timeline on when completely personalised products would be offered, but Dell would refresh its laptop line with new design options as early as this year.

"We may bring out some designs potentially and you can choose a design on the back, and then the next phase would be where you're uploading a design to us, and that design appears on your notebook," he said.

"You may see some of these things come more on the high-end first and then come down to the low-end."