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

To: alias who wrote (135454)	7/3/1999 3:02:00 PM
From: Meathead	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Re: distinguish it from other consumer "box makers". Too early to tell. Dell has done an excellent job in the corporate market but the consumer crowd is the most fickle of all and presents numerous challenges for any business to differentiate. Coke, Nike, Sony is unique from Pepsi, Reebok, Phillips in exactly what way? With product quality nearly identical and styling differences subtle, much of the war is won through advertising. Personally, I like Coke better, think Nike builds a better shoe and Sony makes superior TV's, yet there are those who completely disagree with me. Yet, these companies did something right because they generally have a larger market share. This is where executive management earns their money... making strategic long term decisions on how to build customer loyalty. Differentiation for Dell could be nothing fancy, just something as boring as quality, service and brand name recognition. If they significantly expand their business into other areas, they still have to compete with someone else and face the same challenges of product differentiation. How do the big full service ISP's differentiate? It's tough. Offer lower rates, free PC's and boom, the competition does the same thing releveling the playing field. Now, not only will lose money for the remainder of the year, they'll lose money for the next two years. There is actually little room for differentiation in the product itself especially in consumer electronics... I'm not saying that a $50 set of speakers is going to perform like a $500 set of speakers, but, at each price point, a manufacturer can only do so much. Given that pricing advantages are usually temporary, it always comes back to the same thing. Where a company can consistently set itself apart from others are in the areas of quality and service. Re: might respond to wireless technology as part of their long range product development, partnering, marketing and service.. I'll let Dell answer that. dell.com MEATHEAD