Editor’s Note: Dell India provided access to Matt McGowan, the Senior Director and PC Gaming Lead at Dell Technologies, for this interview.
Dell recently launched its latest Alienware gaming laptop lineup and pre-built desktops in the Indian market. These include the Alienware Area-51 and 16X Aurora laptops and Area-51 (2025) and Aurora (2025) Gaming Desktops. These devices feature the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs.
This new lineup comes months after Dell announced a sweeping rebrand of its entire product lineup. While easier to understand, this rebranding removes the brand recall for lineups like XPS, Inspiron, Latitude, and more. Thankfully, it does not extend to the gaming side.
Weeks after these latest Alienware product launches, IGN India got to speak virtually with Matt McGowan, senior director and PC gaming lead at Dell Technologies. During this chat, we discussed wide-ranging topics from bringing the Area 51 brand to laptops, challenges in the Indian market, AMD versions, future trends, planning upcoming products, and more.
We also discussed customer feedback, modular upgradeability, possible Alienware handhelds, mini PCs, and even SteamOS support. Let’s check everything about the interview here.
Bringing Area 51 and Aurora Lineups to Laptop
The first question of the interview was why Dell decided to bring its desktop brands, Area 51 and Aurora, to laptops. Matt revealed that the decision was strongly “community-driven.” He shared that customer feedback highlighted that Dell’s gaming laptop lineup confused customers. “We had the Dell G-Series, the Alienware M-Series, and the Alienware X-Series,” McGowan explained. “A lot of the feedback was, ‘Hey, I’m confused about the portfolio.’”
According to McGowan, customers often didn’t clearly understand what the M-Series was meant for, especially since its role had shifted from ultimate performance to more mainstream performance over the years. He added that to address this, Dell conducted structured research to understand the different naming and nomenclature and how people associate different names with different product types and categories.
Overall, the goal was to build product personas, so buyers could quickly identify “what an Area 51 user wants and needs” versus “what an Aurora user’s needs are,” creating more consistency and helping customers find the right product.
AMD Versions
While the currently launched Alienware laptops feature only Intel-based processors, Matt McGowan highlighted that the company is looking to introduce AMD versions in the future.
Challenges in the Indian Market
Speaking about India-specific challenges, McGowan noted that the biggest one is balancing Dell’s legacy of well-built, quality products along with the pressure to build more affordable products. He explained that PC purchases often represent a significant investment relative to average household income in India, creating more downward pressure on prices. This “usually involves cutting corners, ” resulting in “less quality product, less features, less performance.”
However, Dell is committed to the long-term. “We want to be here 50 to a 100 years from now,” McGowan outlined. The key challenge is maintaining the Alienware brand’s reputation for quality while still addressing the price point that Indian consumers need. “The challenge is how do we articulate the value that we bring,” which is “hard, super hard”, McGowan concluded.
Differences Between the Indian and Global Gaming and Computing Market
Discussing the differences between the Indian and global markets, McGowan shared a fact he had heard recently — the PC penetration rate in Indian households is just about 10%, which is significantly lower than China’s 60%. “This means there is a tremendous opportunity to grow in India,” Matt stated.
McGowan also revisited the challenges in the Indian market and discussed the differences between India and the globe. Adding to the difficulties in maintaining Alienware’s brand legacy while serving a market where the average household income is often lower than the cost of the product, he said, “How do we make sure that we are servicing that market in such a way that we can do many things at once? Because I don’t believe that building cheaper products, ripping costs out just to go and get market share, is the right strategy.”
Concept Luna–Style Modular Upgrades to Gaming Laptops
Dell first introduced its vision of a fully modular and repairable laptop in “Concept Luna” at the end of 2021. Aimed at sustainability, this laptop design reduces the need for adhesives, cables, and even screws to make disassembly and repair easier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLfvvKx9AME
Regarding whether Concept Luna would be coming to the gaming laptop side, Matt responded that the company is “looking at it”. He added some context about repairability by adding that “none” of the Alienware products available today, “have soldered-down memory.”
Plans About Alienware Handheld Gaming PC
In the past, Matt had mentioned that the Windows ecosystem does not necessarily provide the best experience for gamers. The company also explored such a product form-factor with its “Concept UFO” in 2020. We wanted to see if the announcement of the ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handheld with a custom version of Windows changed things for Dell, and if it plans to make an Alienware handheld gaming PC. Responding to the question, he agreed that it had changed things for the company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_VRvO2zybQ
Matt outlined that Microsoft has “made a lot of progress” in “coming closer to closing” the “gaps” with the ROG Xbox Ally X announcement. He stated that Dell is “really” interested in the category, but still needs to determine how to differentiate itself from its handheld competitors. The company does not want to bring something already existing in the market with just “an Alienware logo on it.” Instead, Dell wants to “push the industry forward” and “advance” the category.
Possibility of Alienware Mini PCs With AMD Strix Halo APUs
We also asked Matt about possibly having an Alienware-branded Mini PC for gaming, especially with the latest AMD Strix Halo APUs. He stated that he is “very bullish” on such a “concept”, but for the time, it is something Dell is “looking at, but nothing to announce.” He did share his thoughts on the idea by adding that such devices are “really cool.”
SteamOS Support on Dell Alienware Devices
In line with the question on Alienware Mini PCs, we also quizzed Matt about the idea of official SteamOS support on the Alienware lineup. He shared that it is also something the company is “looking at”, but they don’t have any announcements right now. At the same time, he also shared that Microsoft is doing some interesting things with Windows, as mentioned earlier.
Reasons Behind the R16’s Improved Thermal Design and Upgradability
Many OEMs, including Dell, focus on custom parts – such as custom-designed motherboards, fan hubs, or coolers. The drawback of this approach is that if any of these components fail, customers must depend on the company’s after-sales support for repairs rather than simply buying and installing a replacement.
However, the company changed some of the approach from its Aurora R15 to R16 gaming desktop. During our review, we noted that Aurora R16 had an improved thermal design and more standardised components than the R15. These components can easily be replaced or upgraded later. We asked Matt about this change, and he revealed that this change (including the “dramatically redesigned airflow path” on the R16) was all “really rooted in customer feedback and what customers want.”
Addressing custom components, Matt noted that the company still hasn’t “fully” addressed this aspect, as the Aurora Gaming Desktop “still has some” proprietary parts. He further shared that the company is “working on” likely completely standardising all the parts.
