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

To: kemble s. matter who wrote (84284)	12/9/1998 8:39:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Perspectives on sub $1,000 PCs by DELL. Hi Kemble Say have you seen this piece? This is Dell take on the sub $1000 PCs, I wish people read this before jumping up and down and making silly comments about DELL getting into sub cheap-crap. ===================================================== Q. What is the impact of the under-$1,000 PC on the market? A. While there has been a lot of attention given to sub-$1,000 PCs, this isn't really a new market and we haven't seen much impact. Dell already offers several PC configurations below $1,000 to our corporate customers, but these are not big sellers. Most of our customers, including small business and home users, are already pretty far up the technology curve and have shown a bias toward purchasing the latest technology. Nearly all the PCs we sell now have the latest Intel Pentium II processors, for example, and Dell has been a leader in the transition to this new technology. Business customers also have learned that they achieve a lower total cost of ownership by purchasing new technology and using it longer. We've seen PCs selling under $1,000 for years. What's different this time around is that they are being much more aggressively promoted and marketed. And the machines, while not state of the art, are more powerful than ever before at this price point because component costs have declined to historic lows. Inventory buildup in the reseller channel of older PC technology and softness in the Asian economy have contributed to the low costs. At Dell, unlike our competitors, we don't keep warehouses full of parts or finished goods. We frequently receive parts just hours or minutes before we assemble a PC to fill a customer order. This means that when component costs are falling, as they have been, we are buying new parts at the lowest price and we can pass these lower costs on to customers much more quickly than most of our competitors. So Dell customers get the latest technology AND a great price. This explains why so many of our competitors are trying to copy parts of our business model, especially our low-inventory manufacturing process. Q. Do I really need a Pentium II? A. When considering which processor to buy in a PC, you'll want to consider the types of software you'll be running and the level of performance you expect. You will also want to consider factors such as how soon you may need to upgrade your PC to keep up changing technology. Most Dell customers are opting for Pentium II processors because they realize it represents leading-edge technology that protects against early obsolescence and will help their PC better meet their future computing needs. Something to keep in mind: New applications and operating systems seem to always demand more - not less - power. Dell recently completed the transition of its Dell Dimension desktop PCs to exclusively Pentium II processors. Dimension PCs are designed for small business and home users have led the industry in the awards received from the leading technology publications. Q. What has been the impact of the Internet on business in general and Dell in particular? A. The Internet is changing the way all of us work and communicate. Most businesses today have web sites where customers or prospects can learn about their companies, products and services. Intranets, within companies, are changing how people get information about their benefits and other employee programs. The Internet is especially a natural fit with Dell's direct business model. Already, through our online store, we're selling more than $5 million a day in Dell systems. And customers can quickly check their order status, or browse through thousands of pages of technical support documentation. In many cases, this is quicker and more convenient for customers than contacting us on the telephone. Of course, our award-winning 24-hour toll-free technical support is still available by telephone. We're also able to provide enhanced services through the Internet, based on the service tag number for each individual PC we build. For example, if a new video driver is available for the video system in your particular PC, we can inform you directly. For large corporate customers, we offer Premier Pages, specialized web pages tailored for each customer. In the future, we think we can do as much as 50 percent of our sales over the Internet. And we are excited about the possibility of offering sophisticated remote diagnostics and other enhanced services over the Internet. dell.com