“Dell makes Android tablets?” you might ask. The answer has been yes, but not anymore, as the company will not offer any new devices in its Venue line.
Dell’s Venue series has offered a fairly solid Android experience — the Venue 8 7000 and the Venue 10 7000 in particular are great tablets, as we noted in our reviews of those products. Even though they stood apart from competitors — the Venue 8 boasts an OLED screen, for example — it doesn’t look like Dell managed to spark interest in them. The company will instead focus on its Windows 2-in-1 devices.
“The slate tablet market is oversaturated and is experiencing declining demand from consumers, so we’ve decided to discontinue the Android-based Venue tablet line,” a Dell spokesperson tells Digital Trends. “We are seeing 2-in-1s rising in popularity since they provide a more optimal blend of PC capabilities with tablet mobility. This is especially true in the commercial space.”
Dell will not be releasing any more Android version updates to existing devices, but warranty and service contracts will still be supported. In addition, you’ll no longer be able to buy the Wyse Cloud Connect, a USB-styled cloud access device that can plug into any display.
Dell never really have much luck with the Venue line anyway — a line of Android-powered smartphones was also part of the Venue series, but it was discontinued in 2012.
It’s not the end for Dell and Android, though. For one thing, there are still the Chromebooks from Dell, which will soon be able to run Android apps and house the Google Play Store. But the company says it’s still open to supporting Android on its devices in the future — just probably not tablets.
The move is unsurprising — global tablet sales have been dipping since early 2015.
