Dell’s New Laptop Lineup: A Surprising Apple-Esque Naming Convention
Dell has taken pot shots at Apple in its ads before, and the brand is often seen as one of the Cupertino company’s biggest rivals on the PC side of things. So it comes as a surprise that Dell’s rebranded laptop lineup sounds quite so, well, Apple-esque.
Simplifying Naming Conventions
The company is killing off some of its most famous PC branding, including the XPS and Inspiron names (some of which are among our best laptops for CAD). At CES this week, Dell revealed that the new names for its PCs will include the Dell, Dell Plus, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max. No, it isn’t April 1st.
Apple-Inspired Naming
Yes, it appears to be taking on the exact same naming conventions as Apple’s iPhone lineup. And as Oscar Wilde famously said, to borrow one Apple product name may be regarded as a misfortune. To borrow two looks like carelessness. And to borrow three is just downright wild.
CEO’s Explanation
"Customers really prefer names that are easy to remember and easy to pronounce," Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke announced at CES. Buyers shouldn’t have to spend time "figuring out our nomenclature, which at times has been a bit confusing," he said. Sure, the names are simpler. But weren’t there any other words for "powerful" and "bigger" that Dell could have found in the thesaurus?
Social Media Reactions
This week Dell has decided to kill the pretty well-established XPS, Latitude and Inspiron line branding, and rebranded as Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max. This is not a joke pic.twitter.com/SuYBZOO2qh
Dell: "can I copy your homework?" Apple: "yeah just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look obvious you copied" Dell: "ok" pic.twitter.com/RpCOCGtZ1E
Dell’s Defense
Pre-empting the comparisons, Dell argued that Apple "doesn’t own" words like "Pro" and "Max". According to Bloomberg, the company’s COO Jeff Clarke said that the naming decision was based on research Dell did with "tens of thousands of customers." Indeed, those two words are often used by other tech brands like Samsung. But "Pro Max" together? It’s just such a recognisable piece of Apple branding, and a touch bizarre to see adopted by a rival.
Conclusion
Time will tell how the new laptop lineup will fare, but it’s surely going to take a while for Dell to shake off those Apple comparisons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why did Dell decide to rebrand its laptop lineup?
A: Dell decided to rebrand its laptop lineup to simplify its naming conventions and make it easier for customers to remember and pronounce the names.
Q: Are the new names unique to Dell?
A: The names "Pro" and "Max" are not unique to Apple, but the combination "Pro Max" is a recognizable piece of Apple branding.
Q: Will the new naming convention affect the quality of Dell’s laptops?
A: The quality of Dell’s laptops will not be affected by the new naming convention. The rebranding is solely focused on simplifying the naming conventions.
