Dell (News - Alert) has stopped selling the 7-inch Streak online. Despite some early hopes for success, the replacement for the 5-inch Streak – which was also pulled by the company– shows that Dell, like some rivals, is finding it hard to compete with the more popular tablets, such as the iPad or the Kindle Fire.

“Dell appears ready to exit the tablet market altogether – at least on Android (News - Alert),” reported NewsFactor.com. Hewlett-Packard and Research In Motion also stopped selling their tablet models, NewsFactor.com added.

“Given the rapid takeoff of the Android Kindle Fire tablet, which also serves the 7-inch space, the death of the Streak 7 comes as no surprise to analysts,” NewsFactor.com said in its analysis of the recent industry trends.

Dell simply could not “generate substantial sales” of the Streak, according to a report in the Austin Statesman newspaper. Earlier this year, the company stopped selling a 5-inch version of the Streak, which is based on Google's (News - Alert) Android operating system.

“Streak 7 delivered a unique experience for customers who wanted a larger screen size yet the freedom of staying connected to their personal and professional content while on the go,” the company said in a statement carried by the Austin newspaper. “It continues to be available in many markets through retail, distributors and carrier partners such as Optus (News - Alert) in Australia.”

Dell is also still selling a 10-inch Streak in China, the Austin newspaper adds.

Looking ahead, Dell will offer products in 2012 using Microsoft's (News - Alert) upcoming Windows 8, which could be launched in the summer, as well as on new versions of the Android OS, The Statesman says. Dell says it will keep using Android OS mobile products.

“We remain committed to expanding our reach beyond PCs with a targeted set of open, standards-based mobility solutions and services designed for commercial and mobile professional customers,” the Dell added in its statement.

Nevertheless, there were high hopes when the Streak 7 was released.

“To consumers, the seven inch tablet seems to be the sweet spot when it comes to size,” according to a report carried earlier this year by TMCnet.