I have been somewhat baffled by Dell’s purchase of gaming computer leader Alienware, which became official yesterday, particularly as Dell has been moving steadily upmarket with its own XPS line. Alienware intends to maintain it’s own sales organization, so there will be no savings there.

This doesn’t make sense, strictly from the standpoint of expanding the market base. Dell runs the risk of falling into the same trap as GM – with multiple divisions competing for the same customers. It might be that Dell (which has always used Intel) has plans on taping into Alienware’s considerable AMD experience:

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One of the worst kept secrets in the industry is Dell Computer Inc.’s reported move to develop PCs, based on microprocessors from Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

“We believe there will be an AMD/Dell deal announced very soon; more specifically, we believe it will come as early as March and involve Dell notebooks,” said analyst Doug Freedman of American Technology Research, in a report. “The deal will likely mature from there to include servers and desktops, in that order, in subsequent months.”

This makes sense; AMD has been eating Intel’s lunch for some time now.