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

To: kemble s. matter who wrote (115313)	4/8/1999 5:25:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

Hi Kemble here is an update from Bloomberg on analysts meeting. Check out what our nemesis Dan Niles has to say at the end. ============================== Dell to Focus on Services, Consumers to Stoke Growth (Update2) (Adds details, executive comments. Updates with closing share price.) New York, April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Computer Corp., the No. 1 direct seller of personal computers, said it will keep sales and earnings rising by offering more computer services to corporate customers and selling more PCs to household users. Founder and Chairman Michael Dell told a meeting of analysts in New York that the PC market is ''healthy,'' and that unit sales in the industry likely will rise about 14 percent a year. His lieutenants said offering new services will be key to sustaining the company's sales growth, which has topped 50 percent a quarter for most of the last two years. Dell defines services as almost anything beyond selling a computer. That includes solving computer glitches for clients and adding software to customize PCs. Emphasizing services is a change for Dell, which usually turns to outsiders to help customers set up and maintain their Dell computers. Services ''is an area Dell has downplayed,'' said Kurtis King, an analyst at NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, who rates Dell ''buy.'' ''This is an important, positive message.'' Dell's services revenue was about $2 billion for the fiscal year that ended Jan. 29, about one-tenth of the company's $18.2 billion in sales. Investors weren't impressed. Dell fell 1 7/16 to 45. The stock has gained 23 percent this year, compared with a 10 percent increase in the Standard & Poor's Computer Systems Index. Competition Dell executives said they don't plan to compete against big computer service companies like Andersen Consulting or International Business Machines Corp. Dell will continue to use companies like Wang Global to provide services to Dell customers. Dell also likely will expand its relationship with IBM. The No. 1 computer maker last month agreed to sell Dell $16 billion of parts and help Dell develop the technology it needs to make sophisticated computers and storage devices. ''I can't believe that our partnership won't be enhanced over time,'' Chief Financial Officer Tom Meredith said. Dell's goal is to sell more products and services with Dell PCs. It recently unveiled Gigabuys.com, a World Wide Web site devoted to selling printers, digital cameras and other devices used with computers. The company also plans to offer new consulting, training and technical services. Services are among the fastest growing part of the computer industry. Market-research firm Dataquest expects computer- services revenue to double to $800 billion in 2003 from $400 billion today, increasing about 14 percent a year. Sales of computer hardware are expected to rise 6.4 percent a year during the same period, according to Dataquest. Dell, based in the Austin suburb of Round Rock, Texas, also plans to step up its marketing to consumers, which account for a much smaller percentage of Dell sales than corporations. The company still has no plans to enter the market for bargain-priced PCs, though it cuts prices as costs fall. Michael Dell called Apple Computer Inc.'s iMac PC ''a wake- up call'' for the industry and said his company likely will unveil machines inspired by the iMac's design in the next year or so. Demand Dell said he's optimistic about PC demand because many people will buy new machines when Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 2000, makes it debut later this year. Faster Internet connections also will spur demand for new machines. ''This is a massive stimulus to the PC industry,'' Dell said at the analyst meeting at the Pierre Hotel. Dell's said its own Internet sales are increasing. ''Last time we reported, we said Internet sales were $14 million a day and growing nicely,'' Meredith said. ''That was up from $10 million a day in the prior quarter. We continue to see that kind of increase in the current quarter.'' Analysts said they were encouraged by Dell's optimistic outlook. The stock slumped in February after Dell said sales in the fiscal fourth quarter rose 38 percent, the first time in nine quarters that they increased less than 50 percent. ''They are trying to reassure people that last quarter was a blip,'' said Dan Niles, an analyst at BancBoston Robertson Stephens, who rates Dell shares ''market perform.'' The challenge for Dell, Niles said, is keeping sales rising without sacrificing profits. That means Dell can't cut prices too far to win sales from rival Compaq Computer Corp. and others. ''Dell's growth rate is, fundamentally, slowing,'' Niles said. NYSE

To: kemble s. matter who wrote (115313)	4/8/1999 10:15:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 176387

<Chinese Economy> China's GDP Grew 8.5% in January and February, Zhu Says Hi Kemble: Steady as she goes---->not bad at all. ====================== (4/8/99) China's gross domestic product grew 8.5% in January and February, Zhu Rongji said yesterday in Los Angeles, according to the April 8 Hua Sheng Bao (Hua Sheng Overseas Chinese Newspaper). Last year, China's economy grew 7.8%, according to China's official State Statistical Bureau, falling short of the government's target rate of 8%, and falling also below 1997's 8.8% GDP growth rate. China's projected growth rate for 1999 is 7%, Zhu said at a press conference at the White House today.