Comments on: How much trouble is Dell really in?

Don Reisinger wants to know what's going on at Dell. After announcing more layoffs and experiencing slow growth, is the company in trouble?

[Galaxy5]

It's because there's nothing - and I mean nothing - special about a Dell.

If you've seen one, you've seen them all. And if you stare at one all day at work, why bring one home?

I think all of your explanations have merit, but the truth is that by virtue of absorbing Compaq, HP was able to beat Dell at the race to the bottom. And that's what the PC business is. Apple benefits because they chose not to run that particular race.

[Renegade Knight]

Apple benefits not from a lack of running in the race, but from people annoyed at Windows and sick of crap that doesn't "just work". When the PC side comes out with a line of computers that "Just works" come hell or highwater, they will carve out a niche like Apple and have people willing to pay for it.

[nouser]

Anyone remember this"

Quote: ""What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives."

He was talking about Apple Computer. Maybe he should follow his own advice.

[lmasanti]

quote:
"Last year, Dell announced that it was cutting 8,800 jobs from its payroll and Thursday the company said that it has already laid off 5,550 employees in an attempt to cut costs and make the company more financially sound."

8,800+5,550=14,350...

Last March, Steve Jobs said that "we have 25K employees and 15K are in the stores..."

And Apple's Stores are like 5 years old.

Michell not only gave "bad advices to Apple". He gave them to himself!

[MadLyb]

Dell used to have a huge value message, but the competition has erased that without becoming a boring box. Look at HP or Gateway and you see computers that generate excitement and with Dell, you either get plain and boring or systems designed for 17 year old males.
Somewhere in between is the answer, Gateway, HP and Apple get it...Dell definitely doesn't.

[Renegade Knight]

My Gateway has generated a years worth of communications with tech support trying to get it to work. I have no faith in Gateway. Great value...until the computer didn't work.

[_eclectic_]

Galaxy5 got it right. I had to buy laptops for my two daughters. As we reviewed the options, it was painfully obvious that Dell's laptops were like my Dad's Crown Victoria today; solid, dependable (at least the new one's are) but boring. The HP options had some style to them, and my kids clamored for tehm. Against my better judgment (because the were AMD and not Intel, I love AMD but not in notebooks, just too hot) I bought two HP's. AMD aside though, I would have bought HP if they had the Intel as well, they just 'styled' better. Since I had problems with the AMD version (another story), I bought my wife a new laptop that was Dell. Some better styling, but still missing the Apple panache.

Dell's strength has always been production, NOT design; they are paying the price now. They could bring out something to rival Apple, but don't. How about a keyboard that responds to ambient light, being backlit as it gets darker? How about a host of other design options of which Apple is the poster boy for good choices. I haven't bought an Apple due to price, BUT somewhere between the lowest cost, Crown Vic choice of Dell and the Lexus choice of Apple lies room for an attractively-designed leading (not trailing) edge PC.

[thurston24]

Dell was my employer about 2 months ago.
Working there my experience was this:
I was lied to
Paid late on bonuses
Given no benefits.
Given no tuition assistance
Our Sales support was in Ecuador, or somewhere
My managers were inept, and under qualified.
I worked on commission for two years, and not a single person could explain the pay structure to me.
I was trained on how to word things to customers to make 29.99% Interest sound like its a good thing. And how to sell 4 year service on a desktop. People listen up. Dont buy warranties. These companies sell them because they make money off of them.

I am so glad to be gone, though. I felt like I had to fight all day when I was at work. School is good. Stay in school, kids, or you will have to work for the Dells of the World.

When my tax refund gets here...i will be at the Apple store having a farewell party for Vista, and PC.

[Renegade Knight]

Sounds like Dell's "all grown up" as a corporation. Hopefully some of those layoffs are the ones who were part of the problems you encountered.

[W Macaulay]

I have to concur that HP's style over substance (and retail placement) has won them some market share that Dell almost certainly ceded to them. You still wouldn't catch me with an HP laptop though -- their construction is far less solid than Dell. I have a Macbook Pro in my office along with Dell and HP notebooks and I would rate their build quality in that order. The HP is flimsier and its glossy finish shows fingerprints and scratches too readily.

[JohannesMiltoni]

Seriously...why does everything have to be about apple? Every comment posted on here to wired.com to cnn.com to slashdot.com, SOMEONE has to post something about apple -- even in a non-apple related article. Apple has become a religion for these people and their zealot-fanatical fanbase will bring apple-jihad to all non-believers.

[lenrooney]

In this case, the mention of Apple is very relevant. We're talking why Dell is failing and that needs to be compared to computer business models that are currently succeeding. No zealotry required, although, Dell could certainly use all the help it can get at this point.

[Renegade Knight]

In the past 5 years I've had HP, Dell, Gateway, & Toshiba computers. Of those Dell and HP had the best tech support. Of those two, Dell the computers least likely to need that support.

Overall I'd say the entire industry is down, but that Dell has at least kept up standards. I need my equipment to work. Maybe they are laying people off and that's regretable. Still I'd rather buy dell than anything else on my short list.

[22mojom22]

I think that Dell's problems really started when the "Dell Dude" got pinched in NYC for Marijuana possession.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/02/10/dell.dude.arrest/index.html

[eccles1214]

I was considering buying a Dell laptop, but found the style boring, heavy, plastic. Now I'm looking at HP; I haven't considered Apple because they don't make a tablet PC yet, if they did I would probably buy one. I like the fact that MacOSX is really Unix underneath and that it can run Windows as well as MacOSX, but a tablet is what I need for my work, so HP, Toshiba, and Fujitsu are my main options. True, Apples are expensive, but perhaps worth it for some. At my university, the sales of Macbooks and Macbook pros has skyrocketed (probably the halo effect of all those Ipod and Iphone sales). A few years ago, I would see perhaps 10% of laptops in the library were Apples, now more than 50% are Apples. I suppose it is because Apples have suddenly become "cool" laptops. A sad reason for buying a laptop, but that is what people are doing.

[morningowl]

Dell has made a number of smaller scale mistakes over the last few years also. They outsourced Tech support to overseas. American customers absolutely hate this! I am one of them. I call them regularly for Enterprise support and have noticed in the last 6 months that my wait times have gone from "immediate to 5-10-15 minutes". I also use Dell Chat, but found similar wait time issues recently.

Another issue I have found is they are not supporting their products well. My company bought a data projector that subsequently has failed, but the projector is a few years old and out of warranty. The broken part on it is obvious (a reflector) and I was looking to get it replaced. Likely a $5-$10 part and perhaps an hour of labor, which they could charge me $100-$200 to repair instead of making me buy a new unit at $1200-$1500. I've actually not found anyone that is willing to look at or repair it.

I find customer service dropping significantly.

Integrated mother boards are another issue. Although other companies are also on this bandwagon, replacing an entire motherboard because the internal power supply quit is asinine. The computer works perfectly until it runs out of juice. So because of "over-integration" they are replacing more parts than are necessary, bringing costs up.

Just my 2 cents!

[morningowl]

Dell has made a number of smaller scale mistakes over the last few years also. They outsourced Tech support to overseas. American customers absolutely hate this! I am one of them. I call them regularly for Enterprise support and have noticed in the last 6 months that my wait times have gone from "immediate to 5-10-15 minutes". I also use Dell Chat, but found similar wait time issues recently.

Another issue I have found is they are not supporting their products well. My company bought a data projector that subsequently has failed, but the projector is a few years old and out of warranty. The broken part on it is obvious (a reflector) and I was looking to get it replaced. Likely a $5-$10 part and perhaps an hour of labor, which they could charge me $100-$200 to repair instead of making me buy a new unit at $1200-$1500. I've actually not found anyone that is willing to look at or repair it.

I find customer service dropping significantly.

Integrated mother boards are another issue. Although other companies are also on this bandwagon, replacing an entire motherboard because the internal power supply quit is asinine. The computer works perfectly until it runs out of juice. So because of "over-integration" they are replacing more parts than are necessary, bringing costs up.

Just my 2 cents!

[dadsgravy]

You posted this twice, so that's four cents you've added. Are you going to want change?

I have been an Avid dell user/buyer for 8 years since coming off my Mac addiction. The Hardware is not as fancy, but I have had a lot less isues with it. I think some of the problems that have plagued my non-technical friends are:

1. Waiting for that laptop to be built. My father In Law wanted a new laptop, it was a decision between Vista basic on a Toshiba, (he didn't want Vista) or a Dell with XP. He went with Toshiba because it was going to take almost 2 weeks to get the Dell.

2. The Bloatware pre-installed on the machine. I always order REAL reinstallation media, and redo the install after receiving my Dell. This is difficult if not impossible for the average user.

3. Vista- Yeah I know it is not "that bad" however after using and uninstalling it many times I still prefer XP, it does what I need it to do. I still have a Latitude C-840 that I use regularly. I don't need a new machine. I also don't think that Vista is that compelling for me to buy a new machine. Perhaps Dell was counting on selling tons of Vista capable machines?

4. Internet - My Wife, it's Outlook and the Internet. Thats all she needs to get her through the day. I am a developer so of course I love faster beefier machines, but my Precision 470 Quadcore Xeon is great even after 2 years...There is no real reason to buy another machine.

The internet also adds another spin with online services such a GoogleDocs, Live, etc. These use the browser, so who really needs more, better, faster anymore?

[BeamerMT]

When I bought a Dell 4 Years ago, they were the top of the line. Then I found out that Dell likes to lie to customers, cheat them out of money, make replacing parts a complete nightmare, make warranty service a nightmare, and just make your entire computing experience a disaster. After I paid off my consumer credit line, I canceled it and never looked back. I dont see why anyone would buy an underpowered under service POS from Dell when they can get anything else from anywhere else for better money.

[r61999]

I worked at Dell for several years. If Dell is going to layoff more workers i will bet it will come from support. I saw a dramatic decline in support over the last 3 years. i also saw quality issues growing. Dell invests about 1% of theri sales to R&D where others in the industry spend more. Inovation is the key not build to order.

Michael Dell is the wrong person to be running the company, he has made no friends in the industry and is too hooked on his past glories. He has never had to turn a company arround.

[gefitz]

Yes, Dell is still profitable. However, long term it makes sense for them to cut costs as much as possible. It's impossible to make money selling onel computer hardware...the money is in software and services. So, perhaps this retraction is in prep for a serious go (at long last...they should have been spending their higher profits on this a long time ago) at R&D and diversification (read: acquisition) into software and services?

[tundraboy]

Dell has one and only one problem. It's an extremely unimaginative company. It has no foresight, it has no hindsight. It only sees what's at the end of its nose and sometimes overlooks that too. Case in point, how can a company in the high tech industry consciously choose to devote so little money to R&D? I find that fact mind-boggling. You're in high tech and you're allergic to R&D?

[rickard0529]

Since I have been buying Dells ( and other brands) for myself, my family, and my business since 1992, I would like to think I have some experience and credibility with respect to this issue. The quality, reliability, and service of the company have, with some minor exceptions, been excellent. This is not meant to be a knock on the other manufacturers; I'm sure they make some good products. I remember , years ago, computer writers saying that -someday-computer brands would not matter. Computers would become a commodity. This is mostly true, today. Dell was a leader in quality, service, and price. Styling was ( and in my opinion still is) not that big of a deal. Now quality, service, and price are more or less equal among manufacturers, and Dell's styling lags; hence the loss in market share. Still, the bottom line for me is I will continue to buy Dells. Yes, Dells are not exciting, but they're a comfortable and reliable choice.

[anay3000]

OK, let me say this,
Dell doesnt cut any ice in India. but some time ago, they had an offer on their site that informed me of a Great and very cheap Laptop with a great processor, large HDD, and all other features that were available in the upper-mid-laptop segment, like bluetooth, wifi, etc. all this at just INR. 38,000 (approx).

I called them up on the free phone number, and was greeted by their sales person. he told me that yes, indeed, that model was available, and that it actually cost 38k. yeah, with a smile, i reached for my credit card, to order it on the spot, and then he informed me of the other charges.

delivery and octroi: - 3000
OS and other software installation: - 3000
VAT @ 14 %
and a few more charges...

total comes to around INR. 48,000.

ok, now i was pissed off. at that point, i was directly opposite a Lenovo dealership, where i got my ultra cheap 3000 N 100 @ ... hold your breath ... INR, 32,000, all charges included, but without an OS. meaning that it had DOS installed. I got an original Windows XP, and still the price did not touch INR. 40,000.


to top it off, i got charged for that so called free call (full Indian Rupees 70) i had made to dell's sales hotline, that was supposed to be free. and cellphone operators just dont care about our complaints here.

I still saved around 8 thousand bucks, and had a lappy that had the same specs as the dell, but was about 16000 bucks cheaper.


DELL, YOUR TRICKS DONT WORK ANY MORE!!! WOULD I NOW RECOMMEND YOUR BUSINESS TO ANYONE? I WOULD RATHER DERIDE IT!!!