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Is Dell Planning Return to the Smart Phone Market?

Gary Krakow

Dell(DELL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is rumored to be planning to resume making and marketing Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Windows Mobile-based hand-held devices, according to a Web site based in Taiwan.

DigiTimes Telecom is reporting that Dell, which used to make Windows Mobile PDAs, has been reorganizing its hand-held division and will team up with Foxconn Electronics (the trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry) to develop a series of devices.

Foxconn is said to be recruiting talent from the competition -- other Taiwan-based hand-held makers -- in preparation of accepting orders from Dell.

The Foxconn Group has already landed smart-phone orders from other handset vendors, the reports say.

Dell had produced Windows Mobile PDAs for a few years. They were well-made and well-reviewed, but never really caught on in a big way.

According to the Taiwanese Web site, Dell has been busy reorganizing its hand-held devices team since it hired Ron Garriques, a former Motorola(MOT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) executive vice president in charge of its cell phone division, in early 2007.

Dell is said to be teaming up with Foxconn to make devices including new GPS PDAs and smart phones.

Know What You Own: Dell operates in the technology industry, and some of the other stocks in its field include Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Canon (CAJ - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), IBM (IBM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Xerox (XRX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). These stocks were recently trading at ($46.84, -2.27%), ($44.68, -1.24%), ($117.35, -0.90%) and ($14.87, -1.91%) respectively. For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's Investing A-to-Z section.