DELL--Dell to Use Dealers to Sell PCs -WSJ
Tue Aug 20, 2:10 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp. is expected to begin offering an unbranded desktop personal computer to dealers, a move outside its long-held tactic of direct sales, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
In targeting dealers, Dell is hoping to move into the market where no-name computers put together from parts from various suppliers and tailored to a customer's specific needs, still take sales from large suppliers, the paper said.
White-box PCs have maintained about a 30 percent share of the U.S. PC market despite the sweeping consolidation among the top suppliers, including Hewlett-Packard's purchase of Compaq Computer earlier this year.
Dell estimates that no-name PCs sold by small dealers are a $3 billion a year U.S. market.
Frank Muehleman, senior vice president of Dell's small-business division, was quoted as saying the company's goals are modest, aiming for perhaps $380 million in new revenue in the next 12 months.
Longer term, it could expand beyond desktop PCs to offer notebook and server computers to that market, vastly expanding its scope, according to the Journal. |
