Dell

Dell
Information
Type	Public
Industry	Computer hardware, Virtual Reality
Founded	1984
Founder	Michael Dell
Headquarters	Round Rock, Texas, United States
Notable Personnel	Michael Dell (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Personal computers, laptops, workstations, servers, VR headset (Dell Visor)
Parent	Dell Technologies
Website	https://www.dell.com

Dell is an American multinational technology company that designs and sells personal computers, laptops, workstations, servers, and related hardware. It was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, originally under the name PC's Limited, while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and it is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. In 2016, Dell merged with the storage company EMC Corporation in a transaction valued at roughly 67 billion US dollars, forming the parent group Dell Technologies.

In the virtual reality and augmented reality space, Dell is best known for the Dell Visor, a Windows Mixed Reality headset released in 2017 as one of the original wave of WMR devices. Beyond that single headset, the company's main role in the industry has been as a supplier of VR-ready PCs and workstations and as a hardware retailer, rather than as an ongoing maker of head-mounted displays.

History

Michael Dell founded the company in 1984 as PC's Limited, building and selling custom-configured IBM-compatible computers directly to customers from his university dormitory room. The direct-to-customer sales model became the company's signature approach and helped it grow into one of the largest personal computer makers in the world. The business was later renamed Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc., and it moved its headquarters to Round Rock, Texas, in 1994.

Dell went private in 2013 in a buyout led by Michael Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake. In October 2015 the company agreed to acquire EMC Corporation, and the deal closed on September 7, 2016, creating Dell Technologies, at the time described as one of the largest technology mergers in history. Dell Technologies returned to the public markets in December 2018 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DELL.

Dell Visor and Windows Mixed Reality

Dell entered the consumer VR market in 2017 with the Dell Visor, its first virtual reality headset. The device was announced at the IFA trade show in Berlin on August 28, 2017, alongside new laptops and 2-in-1 computers. The Visor was part of Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality program, an initiative in which several PC makers, including Dell, Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Asus, built tethered headsets to a common Microsoft hardware reference and software platform.

The Visor used dual LCD panels at 1440 by 1440 pixels per eye running at up to 90 Hz, and it relied on inside-out tracking through two front-mounted cameras, so it did not need external base stations or sensors placed around the room. Dell emphasized comfort in the design, giving the Visor cushioned head and face padding, a thumbwheel band adjustment, smart weight balancing, and a hinged flip-up visor that let wearers see the real world without taking the headset off. The headset launched in the United States on October 17, 2017, the same day Microsoft shipped the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update that enabled Windows Mixed Reality. It was priced at 349.99 US dollars on its own, with the motion controllers adding 99.99 US dollars, so the headset-plus-controllers bundle sold for 449.99 US dollars.

Microsoft began winding down the platform years later. It deprecated Windows Mixed Reality in the Windows 11 version 24H2 update in 2024, and it set end-of-support dates of November 1, 2026, for consumer use and November 1, 2027, for commercial customers, effectively ending the software support that headsets like the Dell Visor depended on.

Products

Dell's direct hardware presence in VR and AR is limited to the Dell Visor, but the company also positions a broad line of computers and workstations as VR-ready machines capable of driving headsets.

Product	Year	Type	Notes
Dell Visor	2017	Windows Mixed Reality headset	Dell's only VR headset; 1440x1440 per eye LCD; 90 Hz; inside-out tracking; flip-up visor; sold for 349.99 US dollars (449.99 with controllers)
VR-ready PCs and workstations	ongoing	Host hardware	Desktops, laptops, and workstations marketed as capable of running PC VR headsets; the Visor was promoted alongside Dell's Inspiron gaming systems

Market position

Dell is one of the largest personal computer manufacturers in the world and a major enterprise infrastructure vendor through its parent, Dell Technologies. Its involvement in VR and AR has been comparatively small and tied to the broader PC market: the Dell Visor was a single product within Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality push, and the company has otherwise focused on selling the workstations and gaming PCs that power third-party headsets rather than developing its own ongoing headset line. With Microsoft ending support for Windows Mixed Reality, the Dell Visor stands as a discontinued product, and Dell's continuing relevance to the field is mainly as a supplier of VR-capable computers.