Dell Android Phone Adds Push on Apple to Diversify iPhone Sales

(MoneyWatch)  The rumors are flying that Dell will be bringing an Android-based smartphone to the U.S. as early as next year. And given that it's working with AT&T, Apple is left still working only with one carrier while Google-based devices surround the market.

The phone would be Dell's first dive into the competitive U.S. cellphone market. The device, like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, has a touch screen instead of a keypad as well as a camera, said the people briefed on the plan. Dell's AT&T phone is similar to a device Dell showed in China in August, but has some different features, these people said.

It isn't the first time that Dell tried a handheld device in this county. It's been selling PDAs since 2002, but never with phone capabilities. But what is most notable is that Dell will be using Android as the operating system and that AT&T is the carrier.

There's a real irony here. The speculation keeps roiling as to whether Apple is finally going to dump the exclusive deal with AT&T to broaden its domestic markets. And now, AT&T effectively dumped Apple by opening its arms to what I've argued is the embodiment of Apple's big nemesis: service-driven computing. This puts the iPhone into dangerous territory, because Google will now be represented in products from major handset vendors in the top wireless carriers in the U.S. That leaves Apple surrounded. It also explains why AT&T suddenly reversed itself and decided to allow VoIP apps on its network. How would it partner with Google and continue to refuse Google Voice?

Image via stock.xchng user deloan, site standard license.