Alienware is an American computer hardware subsidiary of Dell. Their product range is dedicated to gaming computers which can be identified by their alien-themed designs. Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, and is currently led by Vivian Lien. The development of the company is also associated with Frank Azor, Arthur Lewis, Joe Balerdi and Michael S. Dell. The company's corporate headquarters is located in The Hammocks, Miami, Florida. History Overview Established in 1996 as Saikai of Miami, Inc. by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, two childhood friends, Alienware assembles desktops, notebooks, workstations, and PC gaming consoles. According to employees, the name "Alienware" was chosen because of the founders' fondness for the hit television series The X-Files, which also inspired the science-fiction themed names of product lines such as Area-51, Hangar 18, and Aurora. In 1997, it changed its name to Alienware. Acquisition and current status Dell had considered buying the Alienware company since 2002, but did not agree to purchase the company until March 22, 2006. As a subsidiary, it retains control of its design and marketing while benefiting from Dell's purchasing power, economies of scale, and supply chain, which lowered its operating costs. Initially, Dell maintained its competing XPS line of gaming PCs, often selling computers with similar specifications, which may have hurt Alienware's market share within its market segment. Due to corporate restructuring in the spring of 2008, the XPS brand was scaled down, and the Desktop line was eliminated leaving only the XPS Notebooks, but XPS Desktop models had returned by the end of the year. Product development of gaming PCs was consolidated with Dell's gaming division, with Alienware becoming Dell's premier gaming brand. On June 2, 2009, The M17x was introduced as the first Alienware/Dell branded system. This launch also expanded Alienware's global reach from 6 to 35 countries while supporting 17 different languages. Computer systems models (after acquisition by Dell) Windows OS-based consoles Alienware announced that it would be releasing a series of video game consoles starting in 2014, aiming to compete with the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii U, and the Microsoft Xbox. The first version in this series, the Alpha, ran Windows 8.1. The operating system and ability to play PC games is what separates the Alpha from the eighth generation of video game consoles. At E3 2016, Alienware announced the second rendition of the Alpha, the Alpha R2.