Is Dell close to EOL-ing the Streak in the UK too?
As many of you know, Dell has given the Streak 5 end-of-life (EOL) status in the US. And while that’s naturally upsetting to Americans, the Streak 5 should be still selling elsewhere in the world, right?
Not really, no. In the UK, my home nation and one of the first places in the world to receive the Streak in June 2010, the pocket tablet’s future doesn’t look bright.
Every now and again, I check O2 and Carphone Warehouse, the two places other than Dell that sell – or used to sell – the Streak both online and in-store. I checked recently and was shocked to see that both have taken the 5-inch tabphone we all know and love off their respective online stores.
On O2’s (former) portal for the Dell Streak, selecting “Voice & data” or “No contract” redirects you to an error page saying, “We’re sorry, but the phone you selected does not exist on the O2 shop.” “Business” redirects to a page giving a list of the other phones available on O2’s Business plans, while “Data only” sends you to a blank page asking you to “Select a tariff.”
Clearly, then, O2 is no longer interested in selling the Dell Streak 5. Also a bit interesting is that the carrier also now lists the Streak 5 as a tablet, even though clicking on “Buy now” just takes you to the blank page again.
Carphone Warehouse now lists the Streak as an unavailable device, though on the plus side of this, a search for “dell streak” brings up results for the device’s big brother, the Dell Streak 7, which is oddly listed as a mobile phone despite the fact that it lacks the ability to make phone calls.
I also went into my local O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores and was even more shocked by what I learned there. In the O2 store on my local high street, where I originally bought my Streak and had it repaired a few times, the sales assistant told me that they had never heard of such a device (even though the week before, they had a display featuring the Streak). The sales assistant got her supervisor and very much to my shock and horror, he hadn’t heard of the device either.
Things weren’t much better at my local Carphone Warhouse, where I was told that they were recently told to take the Streak off their shelves. I asked them what else they were told, but they said they couldn’t tell me what else was mentioned. Maybe the Opus One is still on its way?
The only other retailer that sold the Streak 5 in the UK was TESCO for an amazing price for £199.99 (~$308), but they have actually been out of stock since the end of April. After a quick search, I’ve concluded the Dell has definitely stopped supplying the Streak to retailers, meaning that the only way that you can it in the UK is directly from the company that makes it.
So while nothing official has been announced, I think this shows that the Streak 5 may very well be coming to the end of its life in the United Kingdom and maybe even the rest of the world too. The device is over a year old, after all, so it wouldn’t be that suprising.
What do you think?
And for what it’s worth, it seems that Dell has already stopped selling and supplying the Streak 5 in Canada, Australia, and Japan.
