cpq price reductions are not across the board. They are selective; ie. the recent price cuts are for certain notebooks. cpq is experiencing price pressures with respect to certain segments of their total product line. At the same time, they can not supply enough of other portions of their total product line. I believe that an overall statement that cpq is stuffing the channel are ridiculous. That is a simplistic comment that fails to recognize that cpq's total product line experiences differing supply and demand pressures within specific products. Certain of cpq's products are super hot while certain of cpq's products are mediocre to slow.
I believe that cpq sold what they planned and then some with respect to certain products. At the same time there are portions of their product line which are slower. As to "HP boxes smoking", I haven't a clue. Common sense tells me that a retailer will, all things being equal, push the product (i) with the higher retail margins and/or (ii) push HP because the retailer can not get enough of the comparable cpq product.
To me the bigger question is capacity. I do not for a nano second believe that demand for a dell product is so far in excess of a cpq product. If demand for dell is half of Michael Dell claims then cpq is likewise experiencing incredible demand. Which brings me to the capacity issue. Unfortunately, I know nothing about cpq's current capacity utilization. Are they tapped out currently? Do they need to expand production capability? Dell apparently is e xpanding.
One difference between Dell and cpq is the fact that Michael Dell is a salesman of the highest degree. He is frankly and entrepreneur filled to the brim with hutzpah and bs. His gift for gab got him going. So you can rest assured that whenever Dell opens his mouth his will spew positive information - regardless of the reality. Ekhardt on the other hand is the quintessential German. And believe me I know germans!! My folks came to Canada off the boat from Berlin and I was raised speaking German. Ekhardt is typical. Not given to puffing and exaggeration. He is, as is part of his culture, a realist not inclined to spew a lot of crap. Germans are not flamboyant and colorful. They are realists with a tendency to tell it like it is - regardless of who they may offend.
all in all this does not sit well with a wall street culture geared to hype, hyperbole, exaggeration and puffing. This is a part of why dell is where it is. Heaven help those stuck buying Dell at its high when reality sinks in. |
