Dell not convinced by Google Glass and smart watches

Dell isn't planning on rushing into the wearable technology market in 2014, with the firm questioning the productivity benefits of forthcoming companion devices.

"We're not absolutely convinced that you need to have a wristwatch with notifications popping up or that people need to start wearing glasses," Sam Burd, vice president and general manager of Dell's PC group told IT Pro.

"Wearable technology starts getting appealing if it's the primary device users can interact with. We're looking at things in the space, but we don't think it will displace PCs in the next year or that that it's a must-have for everyone."

Despite the PC market experiencing shrinking sales, Burd said that Dell's business customers continue to ask for big screen devices such as All-in-Ones or 15in laptops.

"There's a lot being written about the death of the desktop but a lot of PCs are being sold. We continue to do things around form factor - from AiOs to small form factor designs. There's still good innovation happening in the laptop market with really thin and compact designs," he continued.

"There are instances where smaller 2-in-1s and tablets make sense [but] business users want big screen devices for productivity purposes."

Asked about his vision of the future, Burd said it could be possible that users will not have to carry around devices.

"Imagine a world where you're not having to carry around a device around - there's [display] glass connected to infrastructure and it serves up content from secure data centres around the world. We could be sitting here with devices that are not ours, but which recognise us through our voice or facial recognition.

"We see the world moving that way, that's why we invested in Wyse - around thin client, things like VRTX infrastructure capability and our software and services. Is it three years, five years, 10 years? It always takes a little bit longer than you think."