Archive for October, 2009

Dell Mobile Internet Device aka ‘Streak’ Leaked

There have been rumors a plenty that Dell was developing a MID (Mobile Internet Device) featuring Google’s Android operating system for mobile phones. Today, image sufaced of a prototype device known as the ‘Streak’. Some key features:

• Google Android 2.0 OS
• 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity
• 5? WVGA multitouch capacitive display
• 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash
• Bluetooth
• MicroSD
• 1300 mAh battery

For more details, a video and many pictures, check out this from our friends at Slashgear.

Dell Featured in Business Week; Questions About Long-Term Success

Dell is featured in this week’s Business Week magazine . Don’t want to bore you with too many details when you can read the full article yourself.

Although it a bit of a ‘puff piece’ (PR teams – good work!), Dell gets its message out there that Michael Dell has been in control for a couple years now and while difficult, he has done a lot to reconfigure the company into what is now Dell 2.0 (or is it Dell Version 2.1 with service pack 3?). 

What to look for in the article:

• New Management & Customer Alignment: 
  What’s said: Dell hired a number of new Senior Execs with deep experience and organized the company into Global groups organized by the type of customer.
  What was left out:  In the process, the company has slashed headcount and morale is very low. And by the way, the company has always been organized around type of customer (SMB, Consumer, etc…), its just now that the company has big global groups coordinating across these customer types rather than letting each region team manage this.
• Product:
  What’s said: Hired in designers from Nike and spending more than he used to on product design. The new Lattitude Z and Dell Adamo show that Dell can definately make a sexy system rivaling Apple and others.
  What’s Left Out: Yes, sexy products are good for PR and competing with Apple. Thing is that Dell has always focused too much on US and Europe and not the emerging market countries where all the growth is happening. In order to succeed, Dell (and any other computer manufacturer for that matter) needs to develop better low-cost, high feature products to compete China and the emerging markets.
• Enevitable Industry Consolidation
  The article did a great job in the wrap up to talk about hurdles for the company. Publicly traded, cash rich and no growth = Dell is a major acquisition target. The PC Industry already has too many players and is ripe for consolidation. Will Dell be the aquirer of a company like Acer and vault to #1 in world-wide shipments? Will someone with deep pockets acquire Dell and kick Michael to the curb? Or worst of all, will Dell not find a dance partner and find its share and influence slip as other companies merge?

Dell Selling Windows 7 Systems Ahead of Launch

Although Microsoft’s world-wide launch of Windows 7 is this Thursday (October, 22nd), Dell is now offering Notebooks and Desktops with Windows 7 on its website.

Consumers will be able to walk into retailers on Thursday and walk out with either software packages of the new operating system or with computer systems with the OS pre-installed. Dell is able to ‘pre-sell’ the software today as it still needs to build and ship the systems. Its unlikely that any systems will arrive before the launch date.

Dell Falls To 3rd Place Behind HP, Acer in W/W Shipments

Industry analyst firm IDC announced its quarterly computer shipments report today and Dell’s total shipments fell by 8.4% leaving it in third place behind HP and Taiwanese upstart Acer.

Dell was the only company in the top 5 to see a decrease in shipments. Acer’s rapid movement up the table was not a surprise to the industry. The company has been targeting Dell’s world-wide share through its success in the netbook and low-end notebook categories, which have been of the few areas of growth in an otherwise tepid industry.

Lenovo Group, the number four manufacturer behind Dell and formed through a merger of IBM’s computer division and Chinese PC company Legend Computing, also saw gains in the quarter. Lenovo saw shipments grow 18% due to its strength in China and the ASEAN countries.

Dell Deals of the Day – 13″ Notebook for only $449

Three exciting Deals to talk about today… one’s not a Dell, but its such a screaming great 13″ Ultra-light notebook from Lenovo.

• 13″ Lenovo IdeaPad U350 Laptop for $449 plus free shipping (normally $700 – use coupon code:USPU3525).
• 16″ Dell Latitude Z Laptop for $1799 plus free shipping (normally $2000).
• 23″ Dell ST2310 LCD for $149 plus free shipping (normally $229).

Dell Struggling With Turnaround, Turns to M&A

Dell’s Founder & CEO, Michael Dell, told Bloomberg News that he plans to make strategic aquisitions to help bolster his turnaround plan.

Dell, who returned to run Dell back in 2007, has struggled to raise Dell’s stock price. He has made significant changes at the company, first by looking to fix its expense line by making deep staff cuts around the world. In addition, he has restructured its consumer business and shifted its focus towards traditional retail and away from its traditional “Direct” to the customer channel.

The company has made a few small acquisitions since his return to the company. Its spent $1.4B on the purchase of storage technology company EqualLogic and also hired David L, Johnson, IBM’s M&A Lead in late 2008 in what many assumed was a precursor to an expanded M&A strategy. Johnson’s first deal occurred last week with Dell’s $3.9B purchase of I/T services firm Perot Systems, based in Dallas, TX.