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Dell Technologies hosted a grand event on April 8 to launch their latest AI-enabled personal computers for consumers in India. The laptop behemoth invited journalists and content creators from all over the country to attend their event, and on behalf of Sportskeeda's Tech department, I was invited to experience how the upcoming Alienware and Inspiron laptops are going to be.
My flight landed in Delhi at noon on April 8, and after a short ride, I finally entered ITC Maurya. The event was still in preparation, and I thought I'd be there early and see how it unfolded. It was decided earlier that I'd have the opportunity to interview Mr. Pujan Chadha, Director of Product Marketing for Dell Technologies' India Consumer and Small Business Segment. Since I was already there, the organizers let me know that Mr. Pujan was ready for the interview.
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Before the official event began, I sat with him and we discussed the brand new portfolio, how ever-evolving AI is going to change the personal computer market, what Dell is contributing to the gaming community, and much more.
Pujan Chadha talks about Dell's evolving product strategy, the emergence of AI-enabled PCs, Dell's contribution to the gaming community, and more
Question: Hi Pujan, how are you today? Tell me how excited you are for the launch.
Pujan: Thank you, I'm doing good. This is the best time to be here, and the product guy is the happiest one because he gets to be the one to launch the latest and greatest technology from Dell's consumer standpoint. I am pretty excited about the launch.
Question: Tell me about the new portfolio that Dell Technologies is launching, and what are the key qualities?
Pujan: I think, from a range standpoint, we are launching Inspiron 14 Plus, XPS 14, XPS 16, and Alienware M16 R2. If I have to quickly summarize for you, in terms of the great features that these machines will bring, here are some of the details.
Inspiron 14 Plus will come with the latest Intel Ultra Core CPU, and it will come with an in-built AI engine and dedicated Intel Arc Graphics. It is also paired with a 2.2k resolution screen and 16:10 aspect ratio. It also comes with Dolby Vision HDR technology. Then, there is AI-enabled noise reduction, AI-enabled auto framing, and ExpressCharge, which charges the battery to 80% in less than 60 minutes.
Then we have the XPS 14, and XPS 16. These are really the feathers in our cap in terms of the XPS portfolio that we have. These are paired up with the latest Intel Core Ultra CPUs and also paired up with the latest NVIDIA 40 series GPU. These also come with InfinityEdge OLED displays.
The laptops also come in CNC-machined aluminum and Gorilla Glass 3. So, from that standpoint, it's one of the premium and sturdiest machines.
The last personal PC in our portfolio is the Alienware M16 R2. The latest in our Alienware series is again powered up with the latest Intel Core Ultra and the latest NVIDIA RTX 40 series. What that basically means is, there is ample power in the machine for day-to-day performance for users and gamers.
Question: We have been seeing AI as an integral feature in this portfolio. how do you think it would transform the user experience?
Pujan: Today, most of the applications of AI are cloud-based applications. As the whole AI technology evolves in the coming months and years, our expectation is that those applications and software will, instead of sitting close, will be sitting on the machine.
That's where the NPUs come into play. The NPUs are the Neural Processing Unit, which means that the PC will no longer be completely dependent on the CPU and GPU for performance. This means, with more software and more applications on the machine, performance won't go down.
Question: What are the unique features that you'd say the Alienware M16 R2 has to offer?
Alienware M16 R2 (Image via Dell Technologies)
Pujan: The most unique feature that is being introduced in the Alienware M16 R2 is Stealth Mode. This is one of those features that we came up with after major community feedback. Here, you have the option to turn off the Alien FX light. What happens is that, when you turn off Alien FX lighting, the machine quietly moves into discreet gaming, and we can use it as a personal computer. The fan noise reduces drastically and still gives high performance.
Question: Dell is launching a brand new gaming laptop, the Alienware M16 R2, which is mainly targeted at gamers in India. While talking about gaming as an industry, how do you think Dell Technologies is contributing to its growth?
Pujan: I would take a step back. Let's talk about gaming as an industry. If we see the State of India Gaming report for 2023, that gives us three key indicators that we are very encouraged about.
One, it talks about a year-on-year standpoint, there is an increase in users by 12 %. Secondly, for these users, their gaming time has gone up by 20%. Lastly, and the most important thing is, that 40% of the users have stated that they have qualified from being a casual gamer to a different productive genre itself.
This was the first aspect. The second aspect is the report by Meta Indi and GWI. The whole gaming ecosystem is going to be around 7.5 billion dollars by the end of 2025. Currently, it is around 3 billion dollars. This means there are at least 100 thousand people working in this industry, and by 2025, the numbers will be 250 thousand, which means this is an ever-evolving industry.
Now, if I have to look from a Dell Standpoint, we have three Alienware Stores across the country. We launched one in Delhi last year, the other Alienware Store is in Kolkata, and the third one is in Hyderabad. We have something called the Alienware community. What that means is that we have various engagement levels with our customers.
Question: Can you be a bit more specific about community engagement?
Pujan: If I have to be specific, the first one is the online gaming that you do there. We partner with our influencers and YouTubers, where they play games and tell us how the gaming industry is coming up with different features. They engage with the community and tell them what the industry and we have to offer.
Second is what we call Gaming Saturdays. People come to stores, and there is an engagement between Dell, the influencers, and the gamers. Also, the normal public who come and play on the machines, or do a hands-on experience.
The last one is the multi-city events that we do. While we have three key Alienware branded stores across the country, we also have 600 plus Dell exclusive stores, where we run various gaming activities. There, we engage with the local young generation regarding gaming. So, our engagement level is pretty high with the young population in the gaming space. That is our contribution to the whole ecosystem.
