Dell, Inc.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has become one of the world's most visible companies. In February of 2005, Dell ranked first in a ranking of the "Most Admired Companies" published by Fortune Magazine.

History

Michael Dell had his first encounter with a computer at the age of 15, when he broke down a brand new Apple computer and rebuilt it, just to see if he could. When Michael Dell enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, he was to become a physician. However, during his freshman year, he dropped out of college to become a full-time entrepreneur.

Dell came up with an idea to build and sell computers, and, without knowing it, was pioneering a new way of doing business. Early on, Dell had a vision to focus on making quality products but, more importantly, he was driven by his vision of revolutionizing the way business had been done. Instead of focusing intently on the product, Dell shifted his focus to the customer. His direct-to-consumer approach quickly caught on and success was inevitable, as he grossed more than $6 million in his first year of business.

Dell had always been successful at direct-to-consumer marketing—purposefully eliminating third-party retail chains. Because of this, he was able to pass the savings down to the customers.

Dell, in 1987, created the first on-site-service programs in. Because Dell did not have a store, there was no location for people to bring their computers in for service, so he required people to go directly to the people for repairs. In 1991 Dell Computers tried selling their products indirectly through warehouse clubs and computer superstores. The attempt failed miserably but Dell, a quick learner, learned that retail wasn’t his forte. “I’ve simply learned from experience that a company can grow too fast. You have to be careful about expanding in business because if you get into too many too quickly, you won’t have the expertise and the infrastructure to succeed,” Dell said to Success magazine in 1999.

In 1993, Dell again re-invented his business model. This time, he segmented his business into several distinct parts: home-office, small business, education, government and large business/healthcare.

Most recently, however, Dell has once again attempted to tread new waters by tapping into the multimedia and home entertainment markets with the introduction of Dell TVs, Dell Handhelds and Dell Digital Jukeboxes. Dell has also recently gone into printing, providing both home and small office printers, though printer cartridges are not availble at retailers, they must be ordered from Dell.

Dell also outsources[1] much of its technical support work to an Indian company called Infosys, which also handles outsourced work from many other multinationals.

Criticism

Dell Inc. has sometimes received criticism for the large amount of software included on its systems: some users regard a great deal of it as spyware, while others regard the situation as the company making computers with cheap and unreliable parts.

Consumer groups have also criticized Dell Inc. for treating consumers unfairly. For example, they have accused its customer service of helping businesses faster than individual customers. Customer service critics target Dell Inc.'s outsourcing practices, specifically involving India, claiming they contribute to communication problems between the company and its customers. Dell Inc. has also had numerous criticisms from the Internet community for not offering AMD-based systems, having faulty hardware (most common complaints relate to hard-drive failures, with repeated occurences even after sending the computer/hard drive in for repair), failing to facilitate upgrading hardware (almost all non-Dell-certified/branded hardware), and the generic monopoly complaints from the Internet/Build Your Own communities. Dell also uses proprietary parts, resulting in certain components like the power-supply and motherboard not fitting or not working at all, and sometimes frying the system if users install different, non-proprietary parts. Dell quality can also suffer due to those (sometimes inferior) parts, as well as due to assembly-line deficiencies. Workers have less than 5 seconds generally to insert a PCI card in its slot, and to screw it in.

Products and services

Brands

Dell markets its products under many brand names, such as:

• OptiPlex – office desktop systems
• Dimension – consumer desktop systems
• Latitude – commercially-focussed laptops
• Inspiron – consumer laptops
• Precision – high-perfomance office desktop systems and laptops
• PowerEdge – larger corporate servers
• PowerVault – storage-oriented hardware: tape arrays and disk arrays
• XPS – gaming gear
• Axim – Pocket PCs

The corporation markets certain brand names to different consumer segments. It typically sells the OptiPlex, Latitude, and Precision names to mid and large business customers, where the company's advertising emphasizes long life-cycle, reliability and serviceability. The Dimension, Inspiron, and XPS brands have an orientation towards consumers, students, and small home office environments, emphasizing value, performance and expandability.

Dell recently re-introduced the Dell XPS brand to target the lucrative gaming market. Dell XPS desktop systems use blue rather than the black cases found on newer Dell PCs.

Software and operating systems

Dell currently ships Windows XP as the operating system for most of its new computers, but it also offers Red Hat and SUSE for servers. Certain computers get sold "bare-bones" with a FreeDOS disk included in the box. On Dell's Windows machines, the manufacturer bundles a large amount of software. Some have accused Dell of shipping spyware and claim that its technical support team have instructions not to support its de-installation.

Non computer products

Dell has expanded into non-computer products, including the Dell Digital Jukebox ("Dell DJ") (a portable digital audio player), USB keydrives, LCD televisions, Pocket PCs, and printers.

Support

Corporate activity

Financial information

Dell incorporated as a Texas corporation in 1984 with a capitalization of US$ 1000, the minimum allowed by Texas law. Dell stock trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York under the symbol DELL. At 31 December 2004, the company had a market capitalisation of $104.69 billion.

In its fiscal year ended 28 January 2005, Dell made a net profit of $3.32 billion on revenue of $49.2 billion. These figures represent 26% and 19% growth over the prior fiscal year, respectively.

Direct Sales

Dell sells all its products, both to the consumer and to corporate customers, using a direct sales model. Dell neither operates retail stores nor sells products through other retailers or resellers. Dell Inc. does, however, showcase its consumer-oriented products at kiosks in major malls. The sales staff at the kiosk may assist customers in ordering a product for shipment to their home.

Advertising

Dell advertises heavily on television, on the Internet, in magazines and in newspapers, using constant "special offers" to encourage sales.

A popular, widely parodied television and print ad campaign in the USA in the early 2000s featured young actor Ben Curtis playing the part of "Steven" – a cocky, and lightly mischievous blond-haired kid, who comes to the assistance of bereft computer purchasers. Each television advertisement usually ended with Steven's telltale phrase: "Dude, you're gettin' a DELL!"

During the past few years, Dell commercials have featured three "Dell interns" who learn about the company and show off Dell products, services and employees.

Diversity

Dell received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.

External links

• Dell Computer
  • Dell Canada
  • Dell UK
• IMNO Interviews Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell
• Dell Business Process Improvement- Information on the use of Six Sigma in Dell's BPI Program
• Hotel Near Dell Corporate Offices – The Wingate Hotel is less than 5 minutes away from the Dell campus in Round Rock, Texas.

Data

• Yahoo! – Dell Inc. Company Profile
• Dell Inc is listed on Yellowikis.