Presentation of Dell firm

Résumé du document

Dell Computer Corporation was created in 1984 by Michael Dell, from Austin University in Texas, with an investment of $1000 and the will to suppress intermediaries in the computer industry. In 1985, the company Dell launched its first computer, the Turbo, featuring the Intel 8088 processor. In 1987, Dell was characterized by a new system of distribution: the firm provided on-site products and services.

The company began its international expansion at an early stage. A subsidiary was opened in the United Kingdom in 1988. To face a new long-term strategy, Dell began to offer stocks by providing 3.5 million shares at $8.5 each. In 1990, the firm opened a new manufacturing centre in Limerick (Ireland) to enter the European, Middle Eastern and African markets. The following year, Dell introduced its first notebook computer.

In 1993, Dell was already among the top-five international computer system makers. The international expansion continued with new subsidiaries in Australia and Japan. The firm also established its manufacturing centre in Malaysia, Asia. At the same time, the per-share value of common stock reached $100. Dell began to sell computers via Internet through its site www.dell.com. That was the kind of revolution Dell brought to the industry and soon achieved tremendous success. The Company also entered the servers' market.

In 1997, Dell sold its 10-millionth computer system, and the per-share value of common stock reached $1000. The firm opened its production and customer service centre in China and expanded its manufacturing facilities in America and Europe. There was another manufacturing centre in the U.S., located in Nashville, and facilities in Brazil to serve the Latin America market. Diversification carried on with the launch of online technical support: "E-Support Direct from Dell".

Extraits

[...] But this implies cooperation with Asian firms. For example, Chinese laws ask foreign society to work with a local firm if they want to invest in China. On the contrary, the two other strategic activities are quite weak regarding Dell's position (compared with those of its competitors) and the potential of the market. In other words, the computer market is growing for Dell, at the expense of other products like PDA. This may bring Dell to a lower position on the market, if nothing is done in the following years indeed the PDA market booms while Dell has a very low position on it. [...]

[...] IBM and NEC led the competition, with market shares of 6 percent and 3.4 percent. Both saw sales fall in 2002, IBM by 3.7 percent and NEC by 7.4 percent. In fifth place, Toshiba enjoyed a strong year, with sales rising 16 percent over 2001 to give it a 3.2 percent market share in 2002. S.B.U. Servers & Storage ENVIRONMENT The use of the Internet as a business operations and commerce medium has dramatically increased the demand for data access. [...]

[...] The competition is hard, there are many actors coming from different businesses. PDA becomes a strategic market because there are as well traditional PC manufacturers (Compaq, HP and Dell) as phone and cellular phones manufacturers (Alcatel, Ericsson, Samsung, Sagem, Nokia, Sony) as specialised PDA manufacturers (Palm, Casio, sharp, Handspring, Psion). How can we explain the decline of PDA ? There are two main reasonS. The most important one is that the most profitable target for PDA manufacturer (the companies) has been in a deep recession since at least one year. [...]

[...] In 1990, the firm opens a new manufacturing center in Limerick (Ireland) to enter European, Middle Eastern and African markets. The next year, Dell introduces its first notebook computer. Maturity of the firm In 1993, Dell is already among the top-five computer system makers worldwide. The international expansion continues with new opening of subsidiaries in Australia and Japan. The firm is for instance implanted in Asia. A new manufacturing center is opened in Malaysia. In the same time, the share reaches $100. [...]

[...] This strategy is followed by all his competitors and by several firms in other industrial sectors. It permits to reduce R&D costs to use the best skills of each partner. [...]