“Michael Dell offered up some harsh advice a decade ago on how to fix struggling Apple Computer, words that now provide an ironic sting for the newly minted CEO of his own slumping company. ‘What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,’ he said at a technology conference in the fall of 1997,” Rachel Beck reports for Associated Press.
Beck reports, “Of course, Apple’s investors and Chief Executive Steve Jobs have gotten the last laugh. Back then, Jobs had just returned to lead the company he had founded, beginning what would become an exceptional transformation. Dell, on the other hand, has watched its business go the other way, and Michael Dell has been recalled to the helm to get it back on track.”
“His successor — and now predecessor — Kevin Rollins had a tough run. Under his tenure, the Round Rock, Texas-based company faced a string of disappointing earnings, while its market share slipped — it lost its No. 1 position in the PC industry to Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard last year,” Beck reports.
“Dell also faces an ongoing federal accounting probe and was just named in a class-action lawsuit that alleges its profits were inflated by secret payments of about $1 billion a year from chip maker Intel,” Beck reports. “Since topping $50 a share at the height of the dot-com boom, its stock hasn’t rallied as high since and today trades below $24.”
Beck reports, “With Apple on the upswing, and Dell certainly not, maybe it is time for Jobs to return the favor and give Michael Dell some advice. Chances are it won’t be something he would want to hear.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dion” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: On November 10, 1997, Apple’s then-interim CEO Steve Jobs, in response to Dell’s harsh advice spoke in front of an image of Michael Dell’s bulls-eye covered face and stated, “We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights.” He wasn’t kidding.
Dell is a dime-a-dozen PC box assembler. They offer nothing unique or innovative and their price advantage evaporated some time ago. If the company disappeared this afternoon, nobody outside of Dell employees and shareholders would care.
Related articles:
Dell faces investor lawsuit over ‘illegal Intel kickbacks’ – February 02, 2007
Michael Dell is no Steve Jobs – February 02, 2007
BusinessWeek: Welcome back, Michael Dell – don’t get too comfortable – February 01, 2007
Rollins out as beleaguered Dell’s CEO, replaced by Michael Dell immediately – January 31, 2007
Fortune: Michael Dell reiterates he’d love to sell Apple’s Mac OS X if only Jobs would license – January 22, 2007
Total eclipse of Michael Dell goes off as predicted – January 10, 2007
SEC starts formal probe of beleaguered Dell – November 16, 2006
Apple does it again: New Macbook Pros much cheaper than Dell – October 25, 2006
Dell feels the heat from Apple – October 04, 2006
The Motley Fool: ‘Intel to Dell: you guys stink’ – September 28, 2006
Beleaguered Dell’s OS-limited PC sales ‘declining rapidly below expectations’ – analyst – September 21, 2006
Fortune compares Mac vs. Dell: ‘you’ll get more for your money with Apple’ – September 11, 2006
PC box assemblers like Dell and others wish Apple would license Mac OS X – August 31, 2006
AP: Time to think different, Apple Mac beats Dell on price, software compatibility, and more – August 23, 2006
Dell profit falls almost in half; announces informal SEC probe – August 18, 2006
Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
Dell warns of earnings miss; shares plunge 15% – July 21, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Dell warns 1Q earnings will miss mark; shares tumble – May 08, 2006
Apple passes Dell in market value – May 02, 2006
InformationWeek: Apple Mac run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux; Dell and HP should be concerned – May 01, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Apple Mac is #1 in European education market, pushes Dell down into second place – February 03, 2006
Steve Jobs emails Apple team: Michael Dell not the best prognosticator, Apple worth more than Dell – January 16, 2006
Karma’s a b*tch, ain’t it?!
If Dell disappeared, I would care. I would have a HUGE party to celebrate the world being free from shitty little boxes.
MadMac,
There are plenty of other shittly little box makers to take Dell’s place. The enemy isn’t the box makers. They’re just pawns.
Want to be rid of the pawns? Refuse to buy anything from Microsoft, especially anything that comes with their OS on it. Make that part of your business by requiring your suppliers to be Macintosh compatible. For example, if you run into a web site that requires IE to work properly, let them know that you won’t be doing business with them because of it.
I do like their Ultra Sharp monitors though, especially if you take a felt marking pin to black out the Dell logo.
Without Dell my cat would have nothing to crap in.
-c
MW: ‘efforts’ (however lofty, often come to naught)
@ Aldo
I have two of their monitors at work on my MacPro, and they’re not bad. Not up to Cinema Display level, (the blacks aren’t as dark and they’re so much dimmer) but better than most others. The plastic stands and cases still suck though.
“His successor — and now predecessor — Kevin Rollins had a tough run”
Their offices are side by side, and the door never closed. Dell was talking to this guy on a daily basis. It’s just as much Dell’s fault as it is Rollins’ that the company is slipping.
Not only would I celebrate Dell’s demise as a Mac fan, but also as an Austin fan. Although Dell is technically in Round Rock, that is really just a suburb of Austin, which has been voted the best place to live several times and with good reason. But Dell’s initial surge helped swamp the town with people uncommitted to keeping Austin great. On top of that, Dell got an ultra-sweet tax deal, so they don’t give back to the community in any economically substantial way. Finally, their utterly dreary, drab, and cold aesthetic (which is reflected in their computers) helped to infest Austin with the attitude of mediocrity. Austin (and Round Rock) deserves so much better, and that little Texas oasis would bloom the brighter without that turd in their backyard.
When AAPL last split, near two years ago, it was close to the same price as Dell, $40. I thought it would be an interesting time to use as a reference point not just because of the price but also that I anticipated great changes, what might be called ‘tipping points’. Since then AAPL has doubled and Dell is down by over one-third (nearly halved).
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=2y&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=dell
I have mixed feelings.
I’m a certified and certifiable Mac Fan (just ask Ampar, Unsquirted, and Truth Decay). Thanks, TowerTone.
But my folks have a metric buttload in DELL. It was given to them. I’ve asked them to sell it.
Mixed feelings? We want the most money.
P.S. My folks are in Antarctica right now. Pretty cool.
P.S. To ChrissyOne
Thanks for the Boo-yah. Re: Former Mac User – it made my day.
Longtime, Current and Future Mac User
so wait, who’s worth more now? has apple completely surpassed Dell? because last I heard they were level, and one day Apple went just above and emailed everyone at Apple telling them… but I haven’t heard anything else.
Aldo:
I do like their Ultra Sharp monitors though, especially if you take a felt marking pin to black out the Dell logo.
The only people I’ve ever met who say “pin” when they mean “pen” were from Texas? Are you? Perhaps from Round Rock?
Typos aside, it’s fun to black out that which we don’t want to see. For me, it’s the lawyer ads on the back cover of the telephine book – black out the SOB’s eyes, a couple teeth, add some horns – he looks MUCH better.
You won’t hear Jobs bash anyone while they’re down. In large meetings he has said so much and stresses that we should only focus on what Apple is doing…not competitors.
betty,
Current figures:
Dell (DELL) market value = $53.9 billion
Apple (AAPL) market value = $71 billion
The difference is that Steve has class…
Qka:
Not from Texas, I can blame the typo on Oakland public schools and the early morning state of mind. I know my spelling is bad because quite often the spell checker can’t figure out what I am writing.
What I love is that this really points out the lack of forwarding thinking of Michael Dell. Hiring ultra-cheap labor and having a build-to-order foreign assembly line is all he has as a claim to fame. No actual product development, as the products have all been same-as-same-as – always taking queues from Apple as to what to copy (like everyone else). Their half-ass attempts at offering alternative operating systems have been just that, with no promotion or education around why folks should opt out of the 150+ extra for a Windows (pro/consumer/whatever) and save some money in the short and long term (don’t need to buy all the extra security software for life that Windows requires, infinite tech-support, etc.).
Frankly, all and all, I see Michael Dell as someone who built and sold a lot of widgets. It could have been anything, nuts, bolts, etc. No product development, no class. They even fired that actor who played “Dell Dude” because he was caught with some pot. Real forward thinking, the folks at Dell are, get ready for them to swap over to selling something else soon, like brake pads, when people demand more than imitation with a second-rate OS.
MDN
There aren’t as many whipping boys the calibre of Michael Dell around.
Admit it. You will miss Dell and it’s CEO, Big Mike, when the shareholders get their money back.
Apple should find that Dell Dude and put him in a ‘Get a Mac’ advertisement. He could be a “Dell” — you know pretty in a weird way but totally useless in the long run.
I think we will see Dell’s words on a Keynote — Steve will have class enough not to repeat them but he will tease Dell in public.
MDN, you are right on with this take. In fact, the world would be better off without Dell crap.
@Ape Harm Alert
Tell your folks to go see a broker about selling Dell and buying Apple.
Dell is doomed. They are box shifters and nothing more. HP makes profits from the ink and toner it makes for its printers. Dell has no “unfair advantage” as the economists like to call it. Dell’s competitors have over the years been forced to copy Dell’s cost squeezing ways and now Dell is left with no way to really distinguish itself.
The only thing that stops Dell’s stock from collapsing now is that the corrupt Wall Street firms manipulate the market so as to get their institutional customers out of Dell without driving the price down to salvage value levels. These crooks keep touting Dell to sucker the small investors to take the giant losses that Dell will face once the Wall Street crooks — particularly, the hedge funds — escape their positions in DELL. Then, it’s game over Michael, game over.
Dell needs to merge with Wal-Mart, and have their products prominently featured in the electronics section. Right next to the $29 DVD players and the bargain video shelf.
Give Mike a seat on WM’s board, at least a senior VP. Both cultures of unsustainable growth-via-price-cuts should mix very well.