No P4s from Dell: Dell struggles with PC shipment delays
yahoo.cnet.com
This year, Santa may be leaving some Dell Computer customers IOUs under the Christmas tree.
Dell has been struggling to get its top consumer systems--the Dimension 8100 PC and Inspiron 8000 notebook--to customers, with some people reporting six-week delays on orders placed in November
For some Dell shoppers, this means the shiny new PC or notebook they had been counting on for Christmas won't arrive until after the new year.
"This is obviously mis-execution by Dell, and frankly it's quite dangerous," said Gartner analyst Kevin Knox. "People went to Dell all the way back in November, and if they can't deliver product before Christmas, this is going to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths."
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Dell places part of the blame on higher-than-expected demand. "The (demand for) 32MB graphics cards beat all forecasts, so we did have a supply issue," said Dell spokesman Tom Kehoe. He noted that Dell stretched out the lead times on the Inspiron 8000 beyond the typical four business days.
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The Dimension 8100, Dell's first consumer Pentium 4 system, sports the new look introduced with the OptiPlex 150. With the new model, the company abandoned its signature beige for dark gray. The Dimension 8100 also received THX certification, making it one of the first entertainment-oriented PCs on the market.
The Inspiron 8000 introduced graphics capabilities comparable to those of desktop models and the ability to run DVD and CD-RW drives at the same time, both distinguishing features.
The black eye to the Dimension 8100, which incorporates the first major Dell chassis redesign in about four years, is something "the company cannot afford," Gray said.
He added, "There's a risk here that end-user customer satisfaction could fall."
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"It's a major problem, especially (as) people have bought these things as gifts and they want them for Christmas," Knox said. "I wouldn't be surprised if people canceled their orders and went down to the Gateway Country stores."
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"My Dimension 8100's ship date has changed more times than Palm Beach has counted its ballots," noted one poster. The Christmas gift now has a delivery date of Jan. 4. "When I ordered this system, I was certain that I would receive it before the next president was chosen."
Another Dell support Web site poster recounted placing a Dimension 8100 order Nov. 20--the day of availability--with an initial ship date of Nov. 30, which changed to Dec. 7, then Dec. 8, and finally Dec. 13 before the customer canceled the order. Problems with the USB keyboard compelled the poster to start from scratch Dec. 13, when a sales representative promised a ship date of Dec. 15.
Instead, "the ship date on the new order is 1/2/01, over 6 weeks from my original order date," the Dell customer wrote.
Other Dell buyers voiced similar gripes, which the company's support site moderator Chris Chandler handled with some explanation.
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Andreas |
