According to a report on CNET News, computer maker Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is targeting Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook Air again as part of a new and broader strategy to take on the entire MacBook line of laptops. This comes in spite of a decision earlier this year to discontinue its own ill-fated Adamo line due to lackluster demand. 

Citing industry sources "familiar with Dell's plans," the CNET article noted that Dell is preparing to release a new ultra-slim laptop to arrive in the beginning of 2012. It's thought that this timing was planned to coincide with Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) expected release of its next-generation Ivy Bridge processor by Q2 of 2012.

For now, Dell appears to have adopted a strategy of releasing laptops that are designed to take on specific models in Apple's MacBook lineup. The XPS 14z, for example, is aimed at the 13-inch MacBook Pro and reportedly slated to go on sale in the United States in the coming weeks. The ultrathin XPS 15z--which was declared by Dell to be "one of the thinnest" 15-inch PCs at just below an inch in thickness--targeted the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

For more:
- check out this article at Financial News Network Online
- check out this article at CNET News

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