Dell has junked its decades-old branding across laptop lineup. The PC giant Dell is simplifying its laptop branding, moving away from long-standing names like “XPS” and “Inspiron” in favor of a tiered “Dell,” “Dell Pro,” and “Dell Pro Max” structure. This change, announced ahead of CES, aims to boost demand in a sluggish PC market.
The new name reminds you of Apple and iPhone — you are not alone. The new naming convention immediately drew comparisons to Apple’s “Pro” and “Pro Max” device tiers, with audience members at the press briefing questioning the lack of originality and accusing Dell of simply copying Apple. Dell executives defended the choice, arguing that terms like “Pro” and “Max” are not proprietary and citing research with “tens of thousands of customers” as justification. They also highlighted the similarity in “anchoring” products to a single brand name, as Apple does.
COO Jeff Clarke explained that the goal is to create more memorable and pronounceable names, eliminating confusing nomenclature. This strategy comes as PC sales remain weak following the pandemic-driven surge, with Dell and its competitors seeking new ways to encourage upgrades, including promoting AI-optimized systems and the upcoming end of Windows 10 support. “Customers really prefer names that are easy to remember and easy to pronounce,” Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said during a briefing with reporters. Buyers shouldn’t have to spend time “figuring out our nomenclature, which at times has been a bit confusing,” he said.
The ‘only Dell branding’ that stays
Dell’s gaming PC brand, Alienware, will retain its existing branding. Many of the new Dell-branded PCs will feature neural processing units (NPUs) designed for AI tasks. CEO Michael Dell emphasized the aging global PC install base of 1.5 billion units, stating that these machines will need replacing with AI-capable devices, and that the simplified naming will “make it easier for our customers to do business with us.”