Dell has just launched a new, ultra-thin laptop with a base price of $1,999. It’s sleek. It’s slick. They call it a “luxury laptop,” and John New, director of consumer marketing at Dell, says, “We’re focusing on the fashion.”

Knowing Dell, it’s probably a great product. It’s also a great example of a loss of focus. The Dell brand was built on being quick, dependable, customizable, and affordable. Now it’s about sleek and luxurious too. The company once specialized in serving corporate customers. Now it specializes in the consumer market too. And data centers. And families. And the direct channel. And retail. Oh, and televisions. Did I mention digital cameras? Phones? MP3 players?

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always been a fan of Dell. But it’s hard to see how a company that used to parallel, say, Toyota, in terms of its product breadth and reliability, can succeed by emulating GM. Not only will the company be hard pressed to maintain leadership in any one product category (let alone several), its identity is getting fuzzier by the day.

I’m not sure what Dell stands for anymore. Trying to be all things to all people usually results in being nothing to no one. Sometimes you can stretch a brand so far it rips.