“For the past 22 years, Dell has laid waste to mighty rivals with one of the most groundbreaking business innovations of the past half-century: selling technology products directly to customers via the telephone, and later the Internet, instead of going through retail stores or resellers. But now the remaining competitors, such as Hewlett-Packard, have narrowed the gap in productivity and price,” Louise Lee writes for BusinessWeek.
“That leaves Dell in a tight spot. Rollins and Michael S. Dell, founder and now chairman, must either come up with another breakthrough innovation or face a future of slugging it out on near-equal footing with rivals. ‘Michael broke the paradigm about how to run a computer business, but they haven’t been so great at finding the next paradigm,’ says David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. ‘That’s the big challenge for Dell the company and for Michael,'” Lee reports. “The world is clearly changing around Dell. The once-torrid growth in sales of personal computers has slowed, to about 5% a year. More surprising, consumers seem less enamored of buying their tech wares over the Web or phone. According to researcher NPD Group, the percentage of PC sales done via the phone and Web fell last year, and the share of sales through U.S. retail stores rose, as people flocked to shops to fiddle with new gear such as digital-music players, digital cameras, and slick laptops.”
“Consumers’ buying habits are a reflection of a broader shift in the technology world. People are mesmerized by new digital gear with unique features and style. Commodity technologies, such as plain-vanilla PCs, are passé. That’s a difficult development for Dell. It spends less on research and development ($463 million) than Apple Computer ($534 million), despite being four times Apple’s size. ‘Not investing in R&D works great in the commoditized PC world,” says Vinnie Muscolino, general partner with Babson Capital Management. “It doesn’t work as well in other areas,'” ” Lee reports. “Putting more money into R&D. Selling through retail stores. Breaking with Intel. None of these steps sound anything like Dell. The fact that analysts are raising these ideas underscores how dramatically the times are changing. If Rollins and Dell want to keep up the company’s image as one of the great stock market performers of all time, they may have to think different.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s simple: SIDAGTMBTTS. Note that Apple Retail Store grand openings continue unabated.
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I’m sure many of you have heard the old saying, “No one gets fired for buying IBM.” (It was fairly accurate until the mid 80s.)
Well, for the past 10 years I’ve had a standing policy that anyone who buys Dell equipment for the company gets fired on the spot.
The reason? I lead the technical areas of an aerospace company doing some fairly cutting edge stuff. We are pushing the technology forward. That is what the company is about: expanding our horizons and moving us (we humans) forward. Maybe that’s one reason why all the executives had standardized their personal computing on Apple systems long before joining the company and why the majority of computers in the company are Macs.
Why would we support any company (in this case Dell) that is so minimally interested in doing the same? The simple fact is we are not. If they’re not interested in pushing the technology forward then we are not interested in them.
Thus… during the intake briefings the very first morning any person starts work they are bluntly told, “Buy any Dell product for this company and you’re fired. Period. No exceptions.” If they can’t agree with that condition of employment they are free to walk out the door right then and there and we’ll gladly pay them for the couple hours they’ve been there as well as happily watch them walk away.
If overall online computer sales are down, but Apple’s online sales are up- what does that say about the state of the Macintosh?
Emeril says crow goes better with hot sauce Mr Dell.
http://www.heavenlyheathotsauce.com/page/HH/prod/HH141
If overall online computer sales are down, but Apple’s online sales are up- what does that say about the state of the Macintosh?
Emeril says crow goes better with hot sauce Mr Dell.
http://www.heavenlyheathotsauce.com/page/HH/prod/HH141
If overall online computer sales are down, but Apple’s online sales are up- what does that say about the state of the Macintosh?
Emeril says crow goes better with hot sauce Mr Dell.
http://www.heavenlyheathotsauce.com/page/HH/prod/HH141
If overall online computer sales are down, but Apple’s online sales are up- what does that say about the state of the Macintosh?
Emeril says crow goes better with hot sauce Mr Dell.
http://www.heavenlyheathotsauce.com/page/HH/prod/HH141
I tried to think different, but my head just started to hurt. Then, I thought, wow, like thinking can be really painful. So, I gave up thinking altogether, and you know what, no more neurospasms! This thinking business is over rated.
Now that Apple has gone the way of parts bins to get their computers, Dell will crush them like a bug. By the time developers get their applications finally ported to Intel there will be so may viruses and malware packages running around that no one will buy a Mac. It is obvious by the lack of any information from Apple that they are overwhelmed by the attacks and have no plan to fix them. This is the computer company you want to bet your business on?
Any company that plans on staying in business for more than a week purchases equipment from companies like Dell. They are reliable, fast, and on-site technical support is available. When you Mac breaks you get to stand in a bread line hoping to get in to see a “Genius” before the end of the millenium. Not the way to show customers how important they are to you. This isn’t even counting the horribly overpriced extended warranty from Apple. Virtually every other computer company charges maybe $100 for three years (and that is on-site) but not Apple – $300+ and you get to stand in line to watch your computer disappear for a month.
When is Apple going to grow up into a real computer company that can deal with consumer and corporate issues?
ShadowSelf
Very well stated, 2-ché
MW;Job, as in, <sic>
Dell was never about being a computer company. They were a business model — one that’s played out.
I can’t imagine they’ll go away, though. They’ll stick around like 7-11.
Can Dell learn to just plain THINK?
Uh, yeah, Dell is the gold standard for quality… Uh.. Right. Say, could you pass the crack pipe over here? I’m not feeling it…. LOL
“More surprising, consumers seem less enamored of buying their tech wares over the Web or phone.”
you’ll buy commodity stuff over the web, a steven king book etc, or a commodity good.. not consumer electronics.. NOT without someone telling you exactly what brand/model etc.
that’s why dell fails at CE where they abandon the retail segment
People are afraid to stay at home and purchase via the web because they don’t know what a pissed off kitten might do to them. Out in the mall, kittens are not allowed.
Never, NEVER underestimate the killing potential of a paraplegic kitten.
Somewhat fairer comparison between Apple.com and Dell.com, trying to buy comparable systems with comparable features. Note, that it’s almost imposible to match perfectly, so it’s not perfect, but the surprise cam eto me when comparing servers – Apple’s way cheaper.
Ultralight
Apple: iBook G4 (1.33GHz, 512MB, 12.1″ LCD, 40GB, ATI 9550 w/32MB, DVD/CDRW, 6hr Battery Life) $999
Dell: Inspiron 710m (1.7GHz P-M, 512MB, 12.1″ LCD, Intel Shared GFX,40GB, DVD/CDROM, +Corel Office, 5hr Battery Life) $998
Summry; Dell has a faster CPU and slightlyy higher res (1280×800 vs 1024×768) but no dedicated graphics means you’re stuck in productivity land; even Quake 2 might be too much for it. Why does no one else have a 12.1″ notebook with a graphics chip but Apple… hmm? Anyone? That and a longer batterlife, tough case and better included apps, the iBook is a narrow winner. I think the MacBook Solo will be hugely better when it comes.
“Pro” Laptop
Apple: MacBook Pro (Duo 1.83GHz*, 512MB, 15.4″ LCD, 80GB, DVD/RW, ATI x1600 128MB, ) $1999
Dell: Inspiron E1705 (Duo 1.83GHz, 512MB, 17″ LCD, 80GB, DVD/RW, nVidia 7800 256MB, +Corel Office) $2019
Summary: A little more for 667MHz RAM, a little more for the graphics chip, etc, and even though it’s 17″ it’s the same resolution as the 15.4″ MacBook (1440×960), meaning the Mac will look shaper. 256MB nVidia is actually only comparable to the x1600 (different games will fare differently) but for HD video Avivo’s hard to beat. (*) Apple is currently offering a minor CPU upgrade that offsets this slightly. Also consider that the Dell is 1.5″ wider, 1.5″ longer, 0.6″ thicker and 2.1lbs heavier. Winner, MacBook Pro.
Server
Apple: X-Serve G5 (Dual 2.3GHz G5’s, 4GB RAM, 3x74GB Raptors, 7TB X-Raid, FibreChannel and PCI graphics, 4U total) $19598 (Note, Apple has no CAL’s)
Dell: PowerEdge 1850 (Dual 3.0GHz Xeon’s, 4GB RAM, Windows Std R2/x64 w 5 CALs, 2x146GB Maxtor 10K, PowerVault 220 4.2TB 14x300GB Dual SCSI/320, 4U total) $23321
Summary: Ouch. 3 more terabytes on Fibre not SCSI with an OS that has far less overhead and no CALs, which add up quickly. For a 100-person company, the Dell would cost about $3400 more for CALs. That and the Apple’s brushed metal look is just so much cooler and clean looking than black. Winner: duh.
Well – I think the belief that Mac’s are expensive is being quickly eroded. Yes, you can get a Dell laptop, Duo even, for far less than that, but ask yourself what you’re loosing in the process. The Dell “Pro” already doesn’t have a lot of what the Mac did – what else can you live without?
Bottom-line, Mac’s for the nuts-and-bolts are priced competitively, and when you consider the amount of software in Macs, the ruggedness of Macs and Apple’s vastly superior support (Dell used to be so good at this too!), its easy to see why they MV has shrunk to well below Apples. About time I say!