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

To: D. Swiss who wrote (84533)	12/10/1998 10:03:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Direct Sales PC Vendors Expand into Peripherals, Software Drew: How'bout that,eh? =========================================================== December 10, 1998 (TOKYO) -- The Japanese subsidiaries of U.S. companies that sell personal computers directly are expanding into peripherals and software sales. Companies such as Dell Computer Corp., Gateway 2000 Inc. and Micron Electronics Inc. are in keen competition to offer one-stop shopping services, enabling customers to buy other vendors' software and peripherals when they purchase a personal computer. Dell Computer KK launched its new DellWare program in Japan on Nov. 19. This service gives purchasers of Dell computers the chance to buy other vendors' software and peripherals at prices comparable to those in Akihabara, a Tokyo electronics discount district. DellWare lets home users shop around the clock via the telephone and Internet. The product range includes about 100 items at present, mostly top-selling products Dell makes available through marketing tie-ups with a number of major distributors such as Canon Sales Co., Inc. According to Dell, existing customers will be able to use the service some time in the future. Gateway 2000 Japan Inc. launched a similar service on Oct. 27 with its Your:)Ware program aimed at novice and intermediate-level PC users. Micron Electronics Japan KK plans to launch the same type of service in early 1999. One-stop shopping has advantages for both customers and vendors. Customers gain because they no longer have to make special trips to retail stores to buy peripherals and software after making a direct sales PC purchase. Vendors gain a potentially larger customer base by erasing the impression that they provide hardware without any pre-installed software for seasoned users only. According to a Gateway 2000 Japan spokesman, "Sales have increased by well over a third since we introduced Your:)Ware. The number of intermediate-level PC users in particular has gone up a lot." Dell Computer, Gateway 2000 Japan and other direct sales vendors have achieved rapid growth in the last few years by offering customers high price/performance ratios. However, PCs from domestic manufacturers such as NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. have dropped in price recently. It is now difficult to draw distinctions between PC companies on the basis of the price/performance of the hardware alone. This is why direct vendors are driving so hard to enhance the services they provide. (source:Nikkei-Japan)