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

To: rudedog who wrote (119148)	4/20/1999 8:50:00 AM
From: edamo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

rudedog...your lexus analogy is very true... the need for customer satisfaction is usually underestimated if the "commodity" mentality approach is adhered to...and it is easier to satisfy a customer with "quality", even at a price premium...many marketing people fail to understand consumer mentality and desire for at some time "brand" status...this is the point i have been trying to make...perceive an item as a "commodity"...then one tends to lump all producers of the "commodity" as similar....this can be a fatal flaw in analyzing a company for investment.....if your sales method is thru a reseller channel, then you must satisfy not only the consumer, but maintain loyalty and assure profit to your sales "partner"...case in point "best buys" no longer selling imacs..due to "color mix" forced upon them...hard to gauge "color" popularity when building for inventory...but if dell or gtw would build a "boutique" "winmac" version they would succeed..giving the customer what they want... if a customer has freedom to choose and has the ability to purchase a variation of a product, then that product cannot be deemed a "commodity"..regardless of price or volume...and to believe so may be a faulty conclusion...can't make something that which it isn't....i like your word "commoditization"...for it applies to the "method", not the "product".....it's a better choice...thanks ed a.

To: rudedog who wrote (119148)	4/20/1999 9:22:00 AM
From: Eggolas Moria	Respond to of 176387

The toughest part of the retail channel is that high-priced components and systems decline in price rapidly and the manufacturer has to provide price protection to the retailer as well as incentives to move out the inventory. This is particularly true what is now the $1500 level. Add to that an average of 10% returns primarily from buyer's remorse and you can see the challenge. DELL does not have this problem. Period. eMachines' business model is to avoid those problems by staying in the sub-$600 level where buyer's remorse is more on a plane with buying a television set (very low), avoid the large price declines that permeate the high-end and permit only 10% retailer returns for unsold product (not a problem right now as they are flying off the shelves and booked through June). Give them an IPO and expanded capacity and they could be interesting, if for no other reason than causing a great deal of trouble. A big challenge, immediately, for CPQ.