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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jean M. Gauthier who wrote (5307)	8/24/1999 4:10:00 PM
From: Uncle Frank	Respond to of 54805

Jean, as a Recovering Dellhead, I agree with all of your points about their fabulous business model, BUT, Dell is clearly a Prince With Attitude when viewed solely as a boxmaker, and while they certainly excel at direct fufillment and managing their cash flow, these are not King or Gorilla breeding grounds. The Gorilla game is expressly about sustainable advantages resulting from discontinuous innovations in technology; distribution and mrp innovations are not covered by Moore's models. I'm happy as heck that dell is finally overcoming the sector woes that began back in April. Maybe Freeus will start smiling again <g>. Frank

To: Jean M. Gauthier who wrote (5307)	8/24/1999 7:22:00 PM
From: Bruce Brown	Respond to of 54805

Nice look at Dell through scientific measures, Jean. Dell is a growing services company, no doubt. MD just said that loud and clear today during his interview. Intel is an even larger e-commerce model which many often overlook. At least Dell's business model allows them to be in charge and set or 'control' the market in terms of pricing at the moment. Whatever it is they 'are' - the are doing it well. I say that with, as well as without love for the company and my shares. I didn't move on to 'greener' pastures with my Dell shares earlier this year because I fortunately was already in plenty of other greener pastures with my core holdings at the time. By greener - I mean 'real' technology companies such as the 'manual' suggests. One could argue whether or not Dell is even a technology company at all and I would accept all arguments from all sides. It is certainly part of the value chain of those 'real' technology companies that chains their value together just a little more efficiently than the next. That's power, that's admirable and that's the best use of a business model and other's technology to date. I guess that little software package from i2 (you remember i2 from the manual under SCM software) was a good choice. I would love to take the time to skim through previous posts about Dell, but these darn European phone companies make us pay per minute charges on top of our monthly ISP bill to be on the Internet. Otherwise, I would have jammed through quite a few more of them by now. That, in my opinion, is a huge barrier to entry for the entire European Internet consumer. It may even factor into the growth rate of PC's in general over here in Europe - at least in terms of the consumer that wants a computer for primarily Internet use. Even with the 'free ISP' that Dell and Gateway offer over here now (as well as a few others), one still has to shell out per minute phone charges to the telephone monopolies. Nevertheless, I'm sure that you all have thoroughly discussed the Dell creature before, so I'll keep my Dell chatter to another message board - even though I see the move to the King position for Dell being complete in the not too distant future. BB

To: Jean M. Gauthier who wrote (5307)	8/24/1999 11:59:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

Even some the Analysts see DELL as an e-commerce powerhouse...FYI... -------------------------------------------------------------------- ING Barrings' description of DELL in their new research report (dated 8/11/99)... <<We view DELL as a Unique, Ultra-Efficient "Channel," Not Just a PC Maker...a primary source of DELL's Power flows from the fact that the company represents more than simply a PC maker, but more correctly a unique and ultra-efficient product and services " channel." To date the fact that PCs, and increasingly enterprise systems, have become more commoditized, has thereby played directly into this strength. Over the coming years, we expect this position to become even more apparent as DELL increasingly capitalizes on the direct closed-loop relationship that it has built with its customers. In commercial markets, this should include an expanding variety of products and services being funneled through customized web-based Premiere Pages (currently numbering over 20,000). In the consumer market, DELL has only recently begun to capitalize on its leading web capabilities by launching the Gigabuys.com online store, DELLauction site and DELLnet-branded Internet access service and portal.>> Hmmmm.....ING Barrings seems to start to put some of the pieces of the puzzle together in their comments. DELL is the leading global e-commerce powerhouse (and a very profitable one too). You gotta love $30M/day in online sales and a ROIC of well over 200%. Best Regards, Scott -------------------------------------------------------------- BTW: You made some very interesting statements on DELL....I really liked the following: <<They are like a super-efficient "Keiretsu" where they sell direct, have their JIT suppliers close by, and rake in unbelievable amounts of ROE Cash, that they do not really need to run their business.>> I must admit that I am not an objective observer of DELL. Yet, they are clearly MUCH more than 'a box maker'. They may be on their way to becoming a global e-commerce gorilla <VBG>. There are over 25,000 Premiere pages hooked up. DELL has created prefered purchasing portals for their top customers around the world. Stay tuned....I sure wouldn't bet against Michael Dell right now..!! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally....here is another summary of where DELL may be going... Dell Launches Second Generation Gigabuys (Posted 23-August-99 /The E-commerce Times) <<Dell Computer Corp. announced today that it has updated and enhanced www.gigabuys.com, its online superstore. These new features, along with recently added Dell Auctions, Dellnet portal and Dellnet ISP, are part of an aggressive campaign to eliminate online shoppers ' needs to look elsewhere for products and services>> ...Read the Full Story at: ecommercetimes.com