To: D. Swiss who wrote (59862 ) 8/21/1998 10:50:00 PM From: CRICKET Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 176387
D. Don't know if you have seen this, probably you already have. <Picture> <Picture: reuters>Dell starts phone, Web sales in China ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Scott Hillis BEIJING, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. computer maker Dell Computer Corp is launching its popular direct sales strategy in China, training its sights on an explosive market that will fuel its growth in Asia, company executives said on Thursday. Chinese in nine major cities could now buy Dell's made-to-order laptops, desktops and servers with a phone call or the click of a mouse, said John Legere, Asia Pacific president of Dell Computer Asia Pte Ltd. "Dell has put a stake in the ground today, and all the power of our model and of our global system, we are going to launch into China today," Legere told reporters. The machines would be assembled from locally-sourced parts and then shipped from Dell's new manufacturing centre in Xiamen in the southeastern province of Fujian, Legere said. Officials conceded it would take time for Dell's phone and Internet marketing philosophy to take root among Chinese buyers, who still prefered to visit factories and were wary of buying products sight unseen. A network of Dell distributors would supplement the direct sales system to help build the company's brand, officials said. The Texas-based company is a leading direct distributor of personal computers. Dell vice-chairman Morton Topfer said the company's sales in China were now in the "tens of millions" of dollars a year, and were growing rapidly. "We expect our business to grow in excess of 100 percent a year for the next few years, off a relatively small base," Topfer said. "It's our view that in the next five years China will become the number two market in the world," Topfer said, citing a study that showed personal computer sales to more than triple to 10.6 million units a year by 2002. Foreign multinational firms would account for half the company's sales, said Jim King, vice-president of sales and marketing for Dell Computer (China). The other half of Dell's customer base would be domestic enterprises, government agencies, telecommunications authorities and the military, King said. Dell was already in talks with the State Bureau of Taxation and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, he said. Company officials said conquering the Chinese market would be vital for sustaining the eye-popping growth that has made the company a Wall Street darling. On Tuesday, the company reported a 62 percent jump in earnings to $346 million in its fiscal second quarter as revenues surged even in Asia Pacific. "The China growth is such that if you look at Asian results, it is becoming so large that the people who get the share in China are starting to influence their position in Asia," Legere said. Legere brushed off a gloomy report by research group IDC showing that Asia's financial turmoil sent PC shipments in the region slumping by five percent in the second quarter from a year earlier. In contrast, Dell's total sales to the region had soared by 34 percent, Legere said. The company's figures include Japan while IDC's do not. "We grew when the industry shrunk. We weren't crying about Asia because our model helps us in bad times, and we were profitable," Legere said. "We would expect to start having similar results in China as to our performance in the rest of Asia," he said. REUTERS Rtr 03:38 08-20-98 Copyright 1998, Reuters News Service