and challenges come:
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Dell to unveil first printers in March
2/25/2003 5:42:02 PM
LA QUINTA, Calif., Feb 25 (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp. (DELL) will unveil its first printers next month, with a range of products targeting large office workgroups and small home businesses, Chief Executive Michael Dell said on Tuesday.
In a keynote address at a Goldman Sachs technology conference in this resort town, Dell also said that he did not expect any major improvement in business conditions this year.
"I think that customers are still focused on cost and productivity," he said. "I'm not looking for a big, broad improvement in overall business conditions."
Industry analysts have forecast that personal computer sales will rise between 6 percent and 9 percent this year as corporations replace aging machines. That would mark an increase from 3 percent growth in 2002 following a 4 percent drop the year before.
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, recognized as the model of efficiency in the PC industry, has been battling Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) for the top spot in PC sales. Its entry into the printer business, takes it into a crucial market for HP, where that company makes most of its profit.
"If we can attach printers to those system sales, it's a nice new business for us," Dell said. He did not elaborate on potential pricing or availability of the printers.
Dell has also targeted the market for corporate computers in servers and data storage, an area Dell himself has called the engine of the company's future growth.
In his presentation on Tuesday, Dell said both Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and the open-source Linux operating system could co-exist as platforms for corporate servers.
Linux was more likely to take share from older, often-proprietary variations of the Unix operating system than from Microsoft, he said.
"I don't see as much of a Windows-Linux competition as a Linux-Unix competition," he told a packed luncheon audience. |
