Alienware

Alienware

Type	Subsidiary of Dell
Industry	Computer hardware
Founded	1996
Headquarters	14591 SW 120th ST Miami, Florida
Key people	Nelson Gonzalez, Founder Alex Aguila, Founder Arthur Lewis, Frank Azor
Products	Desktops Notebooks Peripherals
Employees	490
Parent	Alienware, Inc.
Website	alienware.com

Alienware is an American computer hardware subsidary of Dell, Inc. It mainly assembles third party components into desktops and laptops with custom enclosures. Alienware also offers for sale rebadged computer peripherals, such as headsets, computer mice, monitors and keyboards. Their hardware has a distinctive "sci-fi" style, typically including decorative lighting. Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila. Alienware's corporate headquarters is located in The Hammocks, unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, near Miami.

History

Alienware headquarters in The Hammocks, Florida

Established in 1996 through Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, Alienware assembles desktops, notebooks, and workstations. According to employees, the Alienware name was chosen because of the founders' fondness for the hit television series The X-Files, hence the theme to their products, with names such as Area-51, Hangar18 and Aurora.

Acquisition and current status

Starting in 2002, Dell considered buying Alienware, but did not take any action until March 22, 2006, when it agreed to purchase the company. The new subsidiary maintained its autonomy in terms of design and marketing. However, Alienware's access to Dell's supply chain, purchasing power, and economies of scale would lower its operating costs.

Initially, Dell maintained its competing XPS line of gaming PCs, often selling computers with the same specifications. The XPS line may have hurt Alienware's market share within its market segment. Due to corporate restructuring in the spring of 2008, the XPS brand was scaled down.^{[citation needed]} Product development of gaming PCs was consolidated with Dell's gaming division, with Alienware becoming Dell's premier gaming brand. On June 2, 2009, The M17x was introduced as the First Alienware/Dell branded system. Alienware now represents the premium performance space in Dell’s consumer family of products. This launch also expands Alienware’s global reach from six to 45 countries.

On March 25, 2009, Alienware stated that it was considering closing its manufacturing bases in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland, and in Miami, Florida.

Post-Dell Computer Models

Laptops

18 Inch

• M18x - Introduced in 2011, it is considered a replacement for the original M17x design, but with a bigger chassis and screen up to 18 inches, and special keyboard macros. It features Dual-GPU Support, and up to 32GB of RAM.

17 Inch

• M17x (Discontinued) - Introduced in 2009, it is the first laptop released by Alienware after the company was bought by Dell. The name and some of the design is based on the Alienware 17 inch laptop, the Alienware M17.

• M17x-R2 (Discontinued) - 2010 Revision of the M17x, adding support for Intel i5 and i7 processors.

• M17x-R3 - 2011 Revision of the M17x, changes from aluminium chassis to a simplified plastic design, 3D Ready through a 120 Hz screen. Removes Dual-GPU capability.

15 Inch

• M15x (Discontinued) - Introduced in 2009

• M15x-R2 (Discontinued) - 2010 Revision of the M15x, adding support for Intel i5 and i7 processors.

14 Inch

• M14x - Introduced in 2011 as a replacement for the M15x, with single GPU.

11 Inch

• M11x - First introduced in 2010, it is the smallest size gaming laptop from Alienware.

Desktops

• Aurora

• Aurora ALX

• Area-51

• Area-51 ALX

• X51

See also

• List of computer system manufacturers
• Dell
• Origin PC

External links

• Official Alienware Website
• Alienware Europe
• Alienware Arena
• Alienware Merchandise
• Alien Technology at HowStuffWorks