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

To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (171022)	10/1/2002 10:51:51 AM
From: kemble s. matter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

DJ, Hi!! thestreet.com Best, Kemble

To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (171022)	10/1/2002 12:26:01 PM
From: Scott Meyer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

The world is still computer illiterate. 86% of the world's population do not have a computer. If we had a stock market boom while feeding 12% of the world's population with technological gadgets, what are the possibilities when a portion of the other 86% come on line? But the question of relevance to DELL is: "Can DELL still make money selling to that remaining 86%?" The remaining 86% are not going to be ordering $3000 machines over the web. There is a price point at which DELL's business model is no longer efficient. Are people going to pay $50 to ship a $300 computer? $200? Ironically, in the developed world with fabulously efficient package delivery services, that price point is actually much lower than in the developing world. If (and that's a big if) the remaining 86% of the world's population are going to buy computers, I submit that they're probably going to cost about $25 (max) and they're going to be distributed the old fashioned way: some enterprising soul drives a pallet of them to Timbuktu and sells them at the local market next to the Walkmen, and Gameboys. Sony and the other gadget makers know how to make a buck in that sort of market, but DELL and most of the US computer industry still have something to prove.

To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (171022)	10/1/2002 5:44:03 PM
From: John Koligman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

D.J., I suppose it really depends on how much disposable income the 'other 86%' have. There are some pretty sobering statistics on how most of the world lives a couple of bucks per day, so they won't be buying computers from Dell anytime soon, if ever. I agree with you there is room for growth in units, perhaps the more important question is what kind of profit margin will those units be sold at, and will outfits like Legend in China be the way some of these countries go. I've heard the 'billion connected computers' story a 'billion times', but wonder how much profit will really be there for most... Regards, John