Mobile workforce heralds soaring Portable computer sales.
arthur:
Sure Gerstner is a marketing guy but how come he lost a billion and change last year and a few hundred million in year before in Pc sales,remember he has been running the show for for a while up there.The big question is will he be able to make money at it,he may sell a lot of PCs like CPQ but that don't mean jack if he doesn't make any money at it and that is the point.It boils down to the cost structure where DELL has the clear advantage and that is what counts,not just selling and marketing of the thing.
..Ashok Kumar of Piper Jaffray. "Dell has about 12 cents of overhead per dollar of sales. IBM doesn't come close to this,"..
Here is some news about soaring portable sales,one of Dell's biggest money makers.
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FROST AND SULLIVAN: MOBILE WORKFORCE HERALDS SOARING PORTABLE COMPUTER SALES
APR 12, 1999, M2 Communications - The world is becoming more mobile, driven by technology progress, global competition and social trends. This, in turn, is fuelling demand for portable PCs, representing an increasingly favoured alternative to their desktop counterparts. New technologies are improving the performance of portables, and new features and functions make them increasingly appealing to a wider end-user base.
According to a new study by Frost & Sullivan, the international marketing consulting company, the portable computer market is attracting increasingly fierce competition, resulting in significant price pressure. Vendors must therefore look to decrease costs, or find ways to differentiate in an effort to maintain competitiveness and profitability.
Major market drivers such as an increasingly mobile workforce, improving price performance, better communications capabilities and increasing feature integration are expected to characterise the European portable PC market up to and beyond the end of the millennium. A failing performance gap between portables and desktops and declining prices are forecast to spur revenue growth.
The total European portable Computer markets, amassing revenues worth US$6.98 billion in 1998, is forecast to rise to US$12.53 billion in 2005.
As the increasing shift from high end to value products is set to continue, triggered by the delays in NT 5.0 release limiting high end notebook sales, sales are predicted to receive a further boost at the beginning of the new millennium.
High end notebook PC upgrades and desktop PC replacements, coupled with the launch of NT5.0 and Pentium III processors, as well as ongoing growth in the value and the highly mobile segments, are predicted to contribute to steady growth in the total market.
Value portable PCs represent the lion's share of the total Portable PC. Increasingly, high-end functions are being integrated into these systems. Major drivers behind the buoyancy in this segment include improving price performance and the rising number of consumer and academic end-users.
Jan ten Sythoff, Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan, says: "Competition in the portable PC market in Europe is intensifying. There are several reasons behind this. Many portable PC manufacturers are also involved in the desktop) PC market, but failing margins in this marketplace have caused some players to increase their focus on the higher margin portable business. Many of the Asian vendors have seen local markets stagnate and decline, and have looked to the European market to increase their sales."
New developments such as low cost processors, demand for highly mobile systems and failing prices are generating demand from new customers, creating opportunities for new entrants and smaller vendors to expand their customer base.
Additionally, the unstoppable increase in e-commerce is creating a new and attractive channel to market. Direct channels have significant advantages for both customers and suppliers. Dell is leading the way and is significantly increasing its share of the market year on year.
However, the big brands still monopolise the market. With reliable products, a wide product range and strong service and support, the main market participants have built up well-respected brand names. Many of these large international computer equipment suppliers offer a whole range of products including PCs, servers, workstations and network equipment to effectively cater for their large enterprise customers' needs.
Some of the smaller companies have carved out niche markets supplying highly rugged products or high end systems.
There are also some local suppliers who are in a position to shop around for low cost components and who can also offer strong local support and service.
Jan ten Sythoff concludes: "Battery technology is still lagging behind, although new technologies and Power Management systems are increasing battery lifetimes. At the same time, more powerful processors and larger screens quickly soak up this extra power. Communications is becoming an increasingly important part of the portable PC. With analogue modems hitting their speed limit, vendors are increasingly offering integrated modems. Wireless technologies are unshackling portables of cables, and the Bluetooth project will greatly ease wireless communications for all mobile devices."
Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting company that monitors a comprehensive spectrum of high-tech markets, including the Information Technology industry for market trends, market measurements and strategies. This ongoing research is utilised to complement a series of research publications such as the European Market for PC Cards (3562) to support industry participants with customised consulting needs. Free executive summaries of all Frost & Sullivan reports are available to the press.
Report Code: 3565, Publication Date: April 1999, Price: US$3,950 |
