Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) made lots of headlines in the last week due to its bidding war with Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) over data storage firm 3Par (NYSE: PAR). Whoever wins the company, the buyout story is even more proof that Dell is not afraid to take risks.  But that could work for or against the company, particularly when it comes to new product launches like its Aero smartphone. Dell is a mere shadow of what it used to be just five years ago. Share price is currently hovering above $11, bringing it’s year-to-date drop down to -19%. The company has been losing ground with every one of their former client groups, with college students and young professionals flocking to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)  and its line of increasingly affordable laptops and even Dell’s stalwart corporate customers are spending less on the company’s PCs. Now is the time for Dell to batten down the hatches and freshen up their strategy for recapturing the low-end laptop market. What Dell shouldn’t do is release a $299.99 smartphone whose only service provider is AT&T (NYSE: T). Much to the chagrin of Dell shareholders, however, that’s just what they’ve done. The Dell Aero doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from other smartphones powered by the vaunted Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system. It features a 5-megapixel camera with 8x zoom, video playback, and a GPS. The Aero does offer support for Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) Flash, which Apple’s iPhone 4 does not, but so does almost every other Android smartphone currently on the market. While new AT&T customers can purchase an Aero for $99 provided they sign up for a two-year subscription plan, that customer can also can get the more fashionable iPhone 3GS for the same price and with more attractive options to upgrade to the iPhone 4 at a later date. In fact, it seems that Dell’s only major selling point for their new smartphone is its relatively small form factor. The Aero weighs a mere 3.67 ounces, but are the extra two ounces really going to matter to the customer buying a Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Droid X when that phone gives them options for service provider? In smartphone market that gets more crowded each day, what was Dell thinking releasing a device that can barely hope to compete with other offerings exclusive to its sole service provider? Dell needs a lot of different factors to fall into place if they’re going to turn their company around. Whether they can recapture the laptop market while consumers are still leery of spending is beside the point. Before they can begin to grow again, they need to stop releasing money sinks like their new smartphone. As of this writing, Anthony Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. The One ETF to Own Now – Louis Navellier’s new profit guide reveals the hottest ETF to buy now, plus details his breakthrough new strategy designed to help you lock in short-term gains from ETFs in sectors just heating up, and then when those sectors are on fire, grab money-doubling profits from the fastest-moving individual stocks. Get your FREE copy here!