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

To: Mark Peterson CPA who wrote (106590)	3/3/1999 3:02:00 PM
From: edamo	Respond to of 176387

mark...may i add my 10cents on 10k's, 10q's...and the dell menance? dubious...challenging...pressure...difficult...yadda, yadda, yadda.. reminds me of the usa automakers when they blamed poor sales of full size cars on the high cost of gas...missed the strategic inflection point....and let the imports eat their lunch.... dell far ahead of the curve....moving in the correct direction as the dynamic dictates, much like intc... much smarter than trying to coax a few miles per gallon out of a dinosaur....

To: Mark Peterson CPA who wrote (106590)	3/3/1999 3:04:00 PM
From: Kenneth Aird	Respond to of 176387

Where do you suppose the "pressure on margins" comes from? HWP for one has very forthrightly admitted the pressure from Dell and the difficulty of doing much about it in general, due to dependence on the channel. Their best solution so far has been to sell products on the Dell web site. They do seem to be getting more serious about being an internet company, however. See the press release below. Note especially the part about HP switching its own $7 Billion budget for office supplies and other products to its new web site, which Cisco also uses to buy supplies. The mostly invisible business to business e-commerce is already much bigger than business to consumer e-commerce. Ken HP To Launch Internet Site With Ariba By Duncan Martell PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) was set to announce Wednesday plans to launch an Internet site with start-up Ariba Technologies Inc. to sell everything from desks to paper clips to corporations in a market that could reach $500 billion by 2002. H-P, the world's second-largest computer maker, said the announcement is linked with its plans to separate into two companies: its well-known computer and printer business and its much smaller medical devices and electronic testing business. The 60-year-old company has come under fire in recent quarters for lackluster revenue growth and a lack of focus. The Ariba announcement, analysts said, is the first of many such moves designed to convince customers, competitors and shareholders that H-P is not the stodgy and arrogant company some claim it is. ''You've only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what they plan to do in the Internet area,'' said Paul McGuckin, a vice president and analyst with market researcher Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE:IT - news) ''They are determined to make a splash and not to do things the way they had in the past.'' H-P Chairman and Chief Executive Lewis Platt, who has been at the helm of the Silicon Valley institution since 1992, was quick to agree. ''We've already done a lot around the Internet. We've just been entirely too quiet about it,'' Platt told Reuters in an interview. ''Over the next few days and weeks you'll see a lot more out of Hewlett-Packard and how we intend to position ourselves.'' Platt said such positioning will include more partnerships, investment and acquisitions, such as its Feb. 22 alliance with Security First Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq:SONE - news) and Andersen Consulting to develop financial-services applications for the Internet. H-P plans to devote $10 million toward the effort. Hewlett-Packard is slated to provide computer hardware and technology to Santa Clara, California-based Ariba, which already is the largest so-called business-to-business network linking buyers and sellers of office equipment and other products that companies need to run their businesses. Hewlett-Packard also said it immediately will shift its $7 billion budget for office products and supplies and other items to Ariba and, when Ariba.com is up and running, it will purchase the items through the Ariba.com portal. Ariba is ''becoming the 800-pound gorilla in their market, which is purchasing,'' said Nick Earle, head of marketing for enterprise computing at Hewlett-Packard. Analysts noted that, if the market swells to $500 billion by 2002, it could mean several hundred million dollars of revenue to Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard. ''This is not the sort of thing H-P would ever have considered doing a couple of years ago,'' analyst McGuckin said. In addition to providing the hardware and the technology to establish Ariba.com, Hewlett-Packard will also collect a portion of the fee charged to users of the Ariba.com portal, Earle said, declining to comment further on terms of the deal. Already, Earle said, No. 1 data networking company Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - news) is using Ariba.com, adding that ultimately it will connect hundreds, if not thousands, of buyers and sellers, suppliers and customers. ''We think this will become the world's largest e-business site,'' Earle said. Ken

To: Mark Peterson CPA who wrote (106590)	3/3/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 176387

Mark: <<Have never seen in any report the equivalent of we're doing so poorly because we are getting slammed by a nameless competitor who is keeping us up at night.... Any idea why nobody says anything about getting creamed by DELL? >> Very few companies have humble leaders and like to admit that they have serious problems with their businesses. I would claim that CPQ would clearly be in this "arrogant" category. IMHO, CPQ has top management, a business model, and a culture that ALL must change before they could successfully compete with DELL. Remember that DELL is a company that is better by design and committed to constant and never ending improvement. I feel that DELL is significantly UNDERVALUED in this market -- especially when you consider how fast they are still growing sales and earnings vs. the industry. IMO, DELL's aggressive use of the internet for sales and service will pay off in a major way going forward. I wish more of the ANALysts and Fund Managers would do their homework <ggg>. Regards, Scott