Dell
Venue Pro

Rumours of Dell Windows Phone 7 devices had circulated for several months in 2010 and were confirmed when the Dell Venue Pro was first unveiled at Microsoft’s launch of Windows Phone 7 in New York in October. The phone was initially planned to be available exclusively with T-Mobile USA. Given Dell's brand strength among business users its was unsurprising the Venue Pro was positioned as being a multipurpose device for business and personal use. The phone had a slide-out qwerty keyboard, a 4.1-inch touch screen with Gorilla Glass and a five-megapixel camera. When Windows Phone 7 became commercially available in November, Microsoft offered a small number of Venue Pro devices in its seven flagship stores in the US. However, the phone quickly ran into problems and was plagued with negative reviews as a number of issues emerged. As a result, Dell had to recall some of the devices it had sold and delayed the full roll out of the product. The phone re-emerged in December 2010 when Dell offered the Venue Pro for sale on its website. At the same time, it was still grappling with issues on the early units it had shipped telling customers that they “might require another hardware swap”. Those that ordered units from Dell had hoped to get them before Christmas, but further delays emerged and it was reported by a Dell customer services representative that “Venue Pros [were] being reworked in the factories”. The phone continued to be sold throughout 2011 but underlying issues continued with the device. Dell even had to make a statement saying it would replace faulty units for customers who were still having issues. It was clear the phone had a poor outlook. In March 2012 Dell stopped selling the Venue Pro and its sister product, the Venue phone. In December 2012 the company exited the smartphone segment completely, choosing to focus tablets instead where it later revived the Venue brand name.