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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Boplicity who wrote (132868)	6/15/1999 7:51:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Dell Computer migration to Internet moves ahead MINNEAPOLIS, June 15 (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp. <DELL.O> said Tuesday it is about one-third of the way to becoming an Internet-based direct marketer, a move it said gives it an advantage as computer prices fall. Speaking to the U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray investment conference here, Dell senior vice president Joe Marengi said the company is profiting from doing sales and service, and linking with its suppliers, on the Internet. "Very few people outside Dell truly understand the significance," Marengi said. "We feel we can double the core advantages of the direct (business) model through the utilization of the Net." Dell is the No. 2 U.S. computer maker but the top seller of computers directly to the end user, skipping over retailers and other sales channels. It began its transition to what Marengi called the Internet direct marketing model about three years ago. Dell is bringing in about $18 million in sales daily on the Internet, about 30 percent of Dell's total business. Marengi said online revenue has risen more than 271 percent over the last 12 months and the company expects it to continue to rise. Marengi noted that Internet sales save the company money as there are no commission payments to sales representatives. The company has seen customer service phone calls on order status drop by 75 percent and technical support calls fall 25 percent -- calls that Marengi said cost the company $3 to $8 each. Dell's service Web site gets more than 400,000 hits a week, he said. Through a secure extranet, Dell has online links with its suppliers, enabling it to manage the logistics, availability, cost and quality of components it buys. Some 46 suppliers representing 95 percent of the company's component base work with Dell via the Internet. Dell announced Tuesday it is marketing its first computer priced below $1000, the Dimension L series, with prices starting at $899. In the near term, Marengi said the company expects strong demand and "rational" prices, as seen in the first quarter, and gross margins remaining largely stable. "We have no reason to believe anything will change before now and the end of the year," he said. Shares of Dell were trading up $1.00 at $34.31 on turnover of more than 9 million shares.