HP isn’t the only one having PC troubles, as Dell, one of the top computer makers globally, also experienced the harsh reality of people shifting away from PC.  Their revenue only rose by 1% and their shares were down by 10.1% according to their most recent quarterly earnings.  Aside from this, they pulled out on Streak 5 manufacturing, the failed attempt on a smartphone-tablet device,  as it wasn’t a hit with consumers.  The Dell Streak 5 was released with an old version of Android, plus it had really weak battery life.

But it’s not all bad news with Dell, as it makes strides on the software and open source cloud end.  Dell has joined VMware’s open source cloud initiative, Cloud Foundry, with its Crowbar module that automates the installation and configuration of open-source cloud software. The news comes shortly after Dell announced its support for Cloudera.  But with this focus on the cloud, people are starting to think that just like HP, they may soon abandon PC manufacturing and see a full shift towards a focus on software and cloud services.  Households and offices may soon be run by Macs and other PCs like Lenovo, Asus and Acer.

The market for Dell and HP has been a bumpy road these past 12 months, and even as the mobile industry ushers in a new opportunity for hardware manufacturing, it’s evident that both Dell and HP have other things in mind.  The future of computing lies squarely in the cloud, as far as these two PC makers are concerned.  This shift towards software and cloud services is one they’ve been developing for quite some time, and as we head into the fourth quarter, both Dell and HP are making more drastic moves to prepare for tomorrow.  The enterprise is an extremely important space as this cloud transition manifests, with long term potential for the consumer market as well.