Personal computer maker Dell Inc. said on Friday its flat-panel televisions are not intended to compete with traditional TV makers but to persuade users to move its PCs into their living rooms. Chief executive Michael Dell said he did not see its monitors as being in direct competition with those of Sharp Corp, the world"s largest maker of liquid crystal display TVs, because he regards them as multi-function displays, not just televisions.
"We see the role of the PC expanding quite a bit in the digital home as more content becomes digital, whether it"s video, pictures or music," Dell told a news conference in Tokyo. "People are looking for the PC to be at the center of this experience, so larger displays are quite attractive." Dell"s entry into the Japanese LCD television market late last year created headlines and triggered concerns that it would be able to out-muscle traditional consumer electronics makers by replicating its success in PCs.