“Dell Inc., while scrambling to replace millions of laptop computer batteries, faces another challenge — salvaging its back-to-school business,” Don Clark and Christopher Lawton report for The Wall Street Journal.
Clark and Lawton report, “The No. 1 personal computer maker, though dominant in sales to companies, was already facing tough competition in the consumer market before announcing the massive recall late Monday. Now some analysts predict that negative publicity will cause more buyers in the key summer selling season to shun Dell in favor of other alternatives.”
“‘They will be more likely to consider other options,’ said Samir Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis, which surveys major U.S. retailers,” Clark and Lawton report.
Full article (subscription required) here.
MacDailyNews Take: Who in their right mind buys an OS-limited Dell nowadays anyway? Unless, perhaps, you want to toast marshmallows on-the-go. Only Apple Macs can run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. From The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51812
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Why buy a Dell when Apple’s Intel-based computers will run both Mac OS X and Windows? – June 08, 2005
Not the first and not the last of things of Dell’s to be threatened.
I understand Dell us about to announce the new Dell Halon laptop. Ships with a fireproof backpack for returning students, and an enclosed fire blanket.
Yes, this could have happened to Apple. We all know that, but where’s smoke, there’s fire. Building very complex products at the severest lowest price implies hundreds of tiny possible cost-cutting judgments.
Dell is in a tail-spin of bad service, and threatening conflagrative policies. I know many resellers, and all are in dismay. And people don’t recommend products under the pall of such doubt. A subtle shift is in play.
Dell is doomed.
Probably.
A Dell Halon? Not likely – the stuff has been banned for years.
That leaves you with the Dell Dry Chem. The fire will be put out, but it makes an even bigger mess of your Dell.
MDN, you could’ve spent some time actually writing a creative and thought-provoking Take, rather than regurgitated, boring logic.
Anyway, this is good news for non-Dells out there. Their grip is slipping.
Sorry folks… the average consumer is totally unaware of Dell’s battery problems or the recall. This will have less impact in consumer-land than it will in corporation purchasing depts.
They will be aware when their Dell bursts into flames in their lap. That will get their attention.
Call me absolutely crazy but I see the present quarter as a mega hit for Apple. Great movements are often not obvious until after the fact. If I could a pulse on the Apple desktop/laptop movement, I’d say we’re talking just north of 2 million units shipped this quarter. I know it sounds wishful but the signs are there: 150+ retail stores, Intel transition complete and, of course, iTunes/iPod. We’ll see in about 2 months.
I remember the old days when Dell was synonymous with high prices and high quality.
“the average consumer is totally unaware of Dell’s battery problems “
thats not true its in every major newspaper and on the national news in uk and states i believe
Spark,
Not true. My office manager (who is a mid-50s age woman with NO tech knowlede) was having a heart attack yesterday that the two Dell laptops she bought for her daughters last Christmas would burst into flames at any second. She had me help her check if those laptops and batteries were effected (they were).
If she was shopping right now, I guarantee she wouldn’t be buying a Dell.
Nuclear Kid,
I agree entirely.
All the usual indicators in the internet and what I’m hearing ‘on the ground’ in Europe point in that direction.
I believe it’ll be the quarter when Apple really take off, and start winning significant market share.
INTRODUCING: the new Dell Tefalon notebook with the most flame retardent cheap plastic case ever created.
Having once been the proud owner of a Dell Inspiron loaded with Windows ME, I have to say that Dell has more going against it than cheap, shoddy hardware components.
That crappy OS that every Dell ships with isn’t doing the company’s bottom line any favors either.
To all those debating my assertion: I hope you are correct and I am wrong. I think, however, that for every average person on the street that is aware of Dell’s battery problem, I can find at least dozen who are not. (Please, no one take me up on this. I have no intention of conducting on the street surveys)
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Spark don’t know about else where but here in UK it was on front page of at least one newspaper a couple days ago and 2nd up on the BBC TV news as well as on various radio stations so I suspect that its pretty well known by now.
Even in Hong Kong, its been in the news about the Dell battery recall. The sheer number freaks people out more than anything. “A computer burst into flames? Nah, wont happen to me.” But when they see figures in the millions, then they start taking notice.
We bought 4 desktops from Dell 18 months ago. We’ve had two hard drives fail, three of them had USB ports fail, two motherboards replaced, and now the cases don’t shut right cause they are cheap plastic. The design of the USB ports in the front annoys everyone I know because it is angled down at 45 degrees, which is really annoying if you have it on the ground next to you. This is the same design that some of our 5 year old Dell computers have, which shows they put no money/effort into redesigning their products. We have NOT been happy with these computers.
“Who in their right mind would buy a Dell these days?”
Why, pyromaniacs, of course!
Nuclear Kid,
It sounds like you read my posts on some other threads. I said “closer to 2 million than 1 million units.” I posted that weeks ago. I was going to say “at least two million,” but I played it safe. You may be right. This looks like an Apple tsunami about to hit the PC makers. The October guidance for the Wall Street crowd – where Apple reports its quarterly results — is going to be interesting.
MDN magic word “yes”
Spark: Sorry folks… the average consumer is totally unaware of Dell’s battery problems or the recall.
Actually, in the UK, this story had a whole page in the Times yesterday! And that’s a pretty popular paper…
MW: big, as in big losses for Dell
While it may be true that some people who considered buying a Dell laptop will now consider buying a Macbook because of the battery issue, I think it is more likely that people will turn to companies like HP and Lenovo for their laptops. Generally, I think most people aren’t willing to switch to Mac OS (or for that matter Linux) because they are unfamiliar with it and, despite the Apple TV ads, most (non-geek) computer users probably have been conditioned to believe that malware and OS crashes are just a fact of life. We can’t rely on negative publicity and Apple TV ads to switch the masses. Mac evangelisation must come from us.
Also a major story on every news programme in the UK, along with the even funnier info that Sony are to blame for the battery design.
If Dell’s UK sales don’t implode based on the tsunami of bad publicity they’ve had over the last 72 hours, I’ll eat Keira Knightly’s knickers (she can be in them or out of them, I’m really not fussed).
MDN: That “take” should read: “OS-limited, fire-prone Dell”
Cracker Jacks used to put a free toy surprise inside every box. Maybe Dell should ship a free fire extinguisher with every laptop? Just a thought.