Dell PCs with suspicious branding: Pro and Pro Max copied from the iPhone?
The computer company Dell has a new brand strategy that sounds a lot like Apple. There were a few smiles at the launch.
Dell-Logo.
(Image: Daniel AJ Sokolov)
No more Latitude, Optiplex, XPS, Precision or Inspiron: At the CES computer trade fair in Las Vegas this week, Dell announced that it would be renaming its entire central product range. For desktops and notebooks, the company intends to focus on the company name – and use an interesting appendage: There will be a "Pro" for the better variants and a "Pro Max" for the devices with maximum performance. As this naming convention has been used by Apple for years – for the iPhone, but also somewhat differently for the M-SoCs –, this caused quite a bit of amusement at the presentation to journalists.
Easier to pronounce?
"I wonder why you didn't go for something original, because you've basically adopted Apple's branding here," quipped one audience member, according to a report by financial news agency Bloomberg. Another said: "Your branding sounds a lot like Apple – don't you just follow them?" Dell's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke naturally sees things quite differently. Customers prefer "names that are easy to remember and easy to pronounce".
Therefore, the products should only be "Dell" with the aforementioned suffix. Dell also uses other suffixes such as "Premium" and "Base", as well as "Plus" (which Apple also uses for the iPhone). The manufacturer apparently does not see the fact that it is becoming more difficult to differentiate between model series as a problem. They simply don't want customers to constantly have to figure out what the nomenclature means. "It was a bit confusing at times."
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Most of the PCs that Dell sells are to be categorized as "Dell", "Dell Pro" and "Dell Pro Max". There are also size specifications such as the inch value for notebooks. In response to the argument that they are following Apple, Clarke said that they had conducted market research with "tens of thousands of customers" before making the decision. Dell wanted to do "anchoring" with its (now) simple brand names, added PC Vice President Kevin Terwilliger. Besides, Dell emphasized, nobody owns the words "Pro" or "Max".
The fact that Apple combined the two for the first time –, which was not even well received by users at first and can also cause confusion for newcomers –, was not mentioned, however. Apple itself is no longer minimalist with its nomenclature. The best example is the current MacBook Pro M4 Pro, which actually has two Pros in its name – one for the series and one for the SoC. Dell, at least, does not seem to be planning anything like this at the moment. Meanwhile, Alienware computers that belong to Dell will retain their branding. In addition to the usual rivalry between PCs and Macs, Dell and Apple are also linked by a memorable event just over 27 years ago. One of the most famous moments in recent Silicon Valley history was when Dell founder (and now CEO again) Michael Dell suggested in October 1997 that Apple's Board of Directors should simply "dissolve the then struggling Mac manufacturer and return the money to the shareholders". Today, Apple is on its way to becoming a 4 trillion dollar company.
Heise Medien is the official media partner of CES 2025.
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