During the global technology event CES2026, executives from PC giant Dell made thought-provoking remarks. Kevin Terwilliger, Dell's product officer, admitted in an interview that after a year of market observation, they found that ordinary consumers do not actually care as much about artificial intelligence (AI) features as manufacturers claim when purchasing personal computers (PCs).
Terwilliger pointed out that the over-packaging of AI in the past year may have had the opposite effect. He believes that the constant emergence of AI concepts has not clearly shown users their practical value, but instead increased their cognitive burden and confusion. When making a purchase, consumers still focus more on the actual user experience of the product rather than complicated technical terms.
Based on this deep market insight, Dell has made significant adjustments to its marketing strategy this year. Although the company has not stopped researching and integrating AI technologies internally, it has clearly instructed to stop the "AI-centric" brainwashing marketing in external promotions. From this year's CES exhibition, it can be seen that Dell's promotional focus has shifted back to the actual functions and daily experiences that users truly care about, moving away from the previous "AI-first" approach. Dell hopes to win back users who were discouraged by complex marketing jargon through a more practical approach.
Key points:
🛑 Major shift in marketing direction:
Dell ⚠️ AI concepts cause confusion: Executives admit that AI features currently bring more confusion than help to users, and consumers do not decide to buy a computer just for the AI concept.
🛠️ Return to the essence of product experience: Dell's promotional focus at
CES2026
