Well turns out that the gang on this show aren’t spending enough time chilling out to Springsteen albums and instead are bumping, grinding, fist-fighting and talking so much s$!t that the company is the 3rd advertiser to pull its support for the show.

The editors here at Observer publishing are more into Fringe (let’s see who gets that one) but with all this controversy, will make a point of recording a show or two and see what all the fuss is about.

NC Governor Beverly Purdue looks to make a major issue around this. “I will fight them if they want to fight about this,” Perdue said. “They made some agreements. We offered some incentives. The locals offered some incentives, and they need to live up to their side of the bargain. If that means going to court, I guess we will.”

Dell’s vice president for the company’s online unit, Manish Mehta, told Bloomberg that over the past three months alone, the number of people who have started following Dell’s tweets has risen 23 percent. The company’s DellOutlet account, which is home to most of the vendor’s sales announcements, currently has almost 1.5 million followers. But unlike some companies, Dell has made Twitter an integral part of its operation. Bloomberg reported that “more than 100 employees send out the tweets” to customers.

The move to create a new handset group was not a surprise. When Garriques joined the company in 2007, it was assumed that he would help push the company (albeit late) into the cellular device market. Lenovo Group announced last week that it was repurchasing its Mobility Device group as part of a renewed commitment in to cellular devices.

What is a surprise, is a repeated move by the company to merge its Consumer and Small Business divisions into one group. Back in 2005, this was attempted in the United States with the goal of achieving ’synergies’ in marketing spend and headcount. The merger however was a failure and the company quickly divided the sales organizations into their rightful areas and Garriques was named as the head of the first Global group within Dell.

The Upgrade Option Program is designed to help PC manufacturers address possible slowdowns in sales due to the introduction of a new Microsoft Operating system. Introduced with the launch of Windows XP and replicated for Vista and Windows 7, consumers are able to purchase a PC within some number of months of the Operating System launch and receive the free (or discounted) upgrade to Windows 7.

What is damaging for Dell, are a number of internal documents found during the court’s discovery process which singles out Dell as the largest recipient of payments under the scheme.

“In pure dollar terms, Dell was far and away the leader in receiving Intel’s largess,” the complaint alleges. “For example, over the four-year period from February 2002 to January 2007, it received approximately $6 billion in ‘rebates.’”

The complaint continues. “Most of this money was furnished to Dell under programs initially titled ‘MOAP’ and then ‘MCP.’ ‘MOAP’ was an acronym standing for “Mother of all Programs,’” according to the document. MCP stood for “Meet Competition Payments.” Both referred to Dell’s global percentage based rebates and to lump-sum payments made by Intel to Dell during the relevant period, according to the document.

The attorney general cites a 2002 Dell document titled “Intel Funding Overview” that allegedly states that Dell loyalty to Intel means “no AMD processors.” The complaint alleges that increases in Dell’s MOAP was tied to excluding AMD products from its lineup.

The attorney general also makes some alarming allegations about the extent to which Dell’s net income was tied to rebates. “A comparison of Dell’s reported net income with the rebates it received from Intel for some quarterly periods show that, by 2004, the rebate payments amounted to more than a third of Dell’s earnings,” the complaint alleges.

The document continues: “In 2006, Dell received approximately $1.9 billion in rebates….and in two quarterly periods of that year, rebate payments exceeded reported net income. From February to April of 2006, rebates ($805 million) amounted to 104 percent of net income ($776 million). The following 3 months, between May and July of 2006, the proportion was even higher, 116 percent ($554 million of rebates and $480 million in net income).”

Perot’s spokesman says that the layoffs are not related to Dell’s intentions to acquire Perot as announced in September.

Dell’s in a really difficult place. With its recent factory closings and repeated downsizing at its Round Rock headquarters, any layoffs regardless of reasons will be met by the press and public alike with skepticism.

“We have considered all of IBM’s arguments and find them to be without merit,” the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York said in its Oct. 22 decision. “Accordingly, the June 26, 2009, order of the district court is affirmed.”

IBM had sought an injunction for the duration of the lawsuit in which it seeks to enforce a one-year non-competition agreement. David L. Johnson, a 27-year IBM veteran, says that agreement isn’t valid because he deliberately signed it in the wrong space.

“We are disappointed in the court of appeals’ decision and are prepared to move forward with proceedings in the District Court to protect IBM from the misuse of our intellectual property and trade secrets,” Doug Shelton, an IBM spokesman, said in an e-mail yesterday.

Dell hired Johnson in May, triggering the lawsuit in which Armonk, New York-based IBM accused him of violating the agreement.

“We’re pleased that the court of appeals has agreed with” the “district court’s conclusion that Dave Johnson is not subject to a non-competition agreement and that there is no reason or justification to keep Dave from working for Dell,” David Frink, a spokesman for the Round Rock, Texas-based company, said in an e-mail.

Dell's Parking Lot Solar Array

Dell just rolled out a new solar array at its Round Rock Headquarters (is that RR2 in the picture?).  The array of panels can generate 131,000 kwH of electricity each year for its corporate headquarters and also includes 2 charging stations for any electric cars the employees drive to work.

All efforts at combating Global Warming Climate Change aside, I bet there’s a rush to park under those locations by employees, even if it means parking farther away from the building. If you haven’t lived in Central Texas, your car is an oven between the months of May and October due, regardless of tint and sunshades. Also the Texas Hill Country is known for getting hail over an 1″ in diameter multiple times a year. Solar or no solar, its nice to have covered parking!

However, there may be a large backlash forming against the company who has, over the years, focused a majority of its sales focus in the United States and other western countries.

Many of these now-closed production centers (Texas, Tennesee, North Carolina, Ireland) have caused controversy in those localities. Jobs lost have been lost (for good?) and voters are left scratching their heads on why Dell received government incentives to bring these factories in the first place.

Will this affect Dell’s ability to sell to consumers and companies in these affeted areas? More so, could this negative brand impact grow beyond across the US and Europe? Check our articles like this, from a local North Carolina TV Station (WRAL): “Dell is turning its back on the U.S. – Just say no to Dell”.

In this current economic climate, you want to make all the friends you can. There’s a chance that consumers will rally around “Made in the USA products” in response to the negative ramifications of globalism. Dell and other US companies better find a way to respond to this.