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

To: BGR who wrote (111921)	3/24/1999 7:44:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

IBM's PC business lost $992 million in '98 news.com By Bloomberg News Special to CNET News.com March 24, 1999, 4:10 p.m. PT IBM's personal computer business lost $992 million last year as the world's No. 1 computer maker cut prices to keep up with rivals. The pretax loss widened from $161 million in 1997, according to the company's annual report. PC revenue fell 11 percent to $12.8 billion from $14.4 billion. Compaq Computer early last year began cutting prices to clear out a mountain of PCs stacking up with distributors and dealers. The cuts spurred IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and others to respond, dragging down revenue and profit. The problem eased, and IBM said its PC business was profitable in the fourth quarter. "Compaq created a [distribution] channel overload. Everyone lost money," said Stephen Dube, a Wasserstein Perella analyst who rates IBM "buy." IBM could add 70 cents a share to its 1999 earnings if its PC business breaks even, Dube said. Concerns about IBM's other computer businesses persist. IBM shares fell 5.2 percent Friday on worries about lower mainframe sales. Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.

To: BGR who wrote (111921)	3/24/1999 9:28:00 PM
From: Eggolas Moria	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

<<As the old-timers in this thread (I am not one, though) always point out, DELL is not just a boxmaker and the barrier to entry is not low by any means.>> Agreed. Their business model and execution has been superb over the past decade. The barrier to entry constantly shifts and changes though, and a company which believes itself invulnerable because of high barriers might just find that the territory it's protecting isn't quite the same as where the battlefield is. Then we get a Harvard Business School case study.<G> <<DELL therefore needs to get serious about server development IMO.>> Agreed. Higher margins and profitable service. But one needs to find a way to provide the service. Service was the reason for CPQ buying DEC, IMO. As for growth in Asia, it's been impressive off a small base. Not to demean the achievement, but as always, execution after projections. The market will be watching and if Dell is successful (and highly profitable in Asia), then long-term holders may well be rewarded. Still no position in Dell, long or short.

To: BGR who wrote (111921)	3/25/1999 1:07:00 AM
From: Michael Bakunin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

Bukun, Gary beat me to all the good points. I will add only a little: I believe that Dell's great, so far uncopied advantage has been its skill at locking in customers to the 'direct model' after the sale. Dell does not have to be cheapest: they have to be 'good enough', and purchasing will continue through inertia. Thus, my worry about emachines: they're so much cheaper, even those suffused with corporate inertia have to look. Second, while I don't expect analloyed success, Sun is working very hard to replace the PC with very thin clients and highly scalable servers. As Dell is wedded to Microsquash, such a scenario puts them out of business (unless you love CE/NT). Third, I still don't understand how broadband begets big sales for PCs. Have you a sketch of this for me? Thanks, mb