Dell to sell PCs at Wal-Mart in retail push
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SAN FRANCISCO/BOSTON  - Dell Inc.  said on Thursday it plans to start selling personal computers through Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  in North America next month, breaking from a 23-year model of direct sales as it tries to rekindle business.
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Dell Inc. plans to sell computers and other electronics gear at 1,400 Staples Inc. stores, the latest departure from the direct-to-customer business model pioneered by the No. 2 computer maker.
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Dell Inc. will sell a notebook computer model at Sam's Club warehouse stores beginning next week, a company spokesman said Friday.  The announcement follows Dell's decision to begin selling two personal computer models at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. beginning this weekend.
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Dell Inc  said on Monday it would sell its latest range of personal computers through China's largest electronics retailer, GOME Group, aiming to improve on its single-digit mainland market share.
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Would you buy a Dell (DELL) PC from a sales associate in a blue vest? Dell's main method for selling computers-directly from the manufacturer-isn't getting the job done, so the Round Rock [Tex.] PC maker found a partner to help push its machines: Wal-Mart (WMT).
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Dell Inc. , the world's  second-largest computer maker, said on Thursday it will soon  start selling its laptops and desktops at Asian retail chains  and stores.
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(InfoWorld) - Wal-Mart opened its campaign for the back-to-school PC sales season on Wednesday by unveiling a $298 desktop from Everex that combines three of the most popular industry trends -- open-source software, a power-efficient processor, and a lack of "bloatware." The Everex Impact GC3502 uses Microsoft's Windows Vista OS but substitutes the OpenOffice.org 2.2 version of word processing and spreadsheet tools for the traditional Microsoft Office variety. The computer runs on a 1.5GHz C7-D processor from Via Technologies, a chip that meets lead-free environmental regulations and saves energy with low wattage demands. The sales price does not include a monitor but is still lower than comparable packages sold on Wal-mart's Web site, such as an HP Compaq Presario, an Acer America AcerPower FH Minitower, and a Dell Dimension desktop. PC vendors usually compete for customers by slashing prices during the eight-week back-to-school season, stretching from mid-July to mid-September. But Everex also hopes to attract buyers by avoiding the free "trial software" that annoys many users, according to Eugene Chang, a product manager at Everex, of Fremont, California. Dell followed a similar strategy on July 10 when itÂ withheld bloatwareÂ from its newÂ Vostro line of PCsÂ for small business users after a long campaign by bloggers and Dell customers against common practice by PC vendors of loading unrequested software onto new computers. Software companies fund the effort as a way to find new users. Although those features are popular, they could backfire on Everex because most U.S. consumers are not yet familiar with Via processors or OpenOffice software, one analyst said. "It's not surprising that Wal-Mart, of all retailers, will sell the $298 Everex desktop; it's a good marriage with their biggest audience -- budget buyers," said Toni DuBoise, a senior analyst with Current Analysis West. "But it has a couple of problems; one is that it uses a Via processor, which is almost unknown to U.S. consumers. And it runs at just 1.5 GHz, so it's unknown how it will handle Microsoft Vista," she said. "And running OpenOffice is kind of a unique tactic. It's anti-Microsoft as Microsoft obviously owns the market for productivity software. So users may have some concerns about compatibility."
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Blog: Everex announces Wal-Mart will carry its Windows-based, back-to-school $298 desktop, which features open-source productivity software.
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Dell has scaled back the range of consumer PCs with processors from AMD that it sells on its Web site, focussing almost exclusively on systems with Intel processors.Dell&#39;s entire line of AMD-based laptops for consumers, as well as most of its AMD-based consumer desktops, will now be sold only through Dell&#39;s 10,000 retail outlets worldwide, said Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden.Except for one desktop, the Inspiron 531, which includes the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ processor, Dell will focus its online consumer sales on Intel-based PCs. For businesses, Dell will continue to sell a range of AMD-based systems online.The decision, made this week, could be a setback for AMD. The Intel rival received a big boost in 2006 when Dell began offering its chips in desktops, laptops, and servers.AMD-based systems tend to be priced lower than Intel-based systems, so it makes sense for Dell to ship AMD products through retail channels, said Dean McCarron, founder and principal at Mercury Research.&quot;[Dell&#39;s decision] is not that surprising given that AMD&#39;s primary strength is the consumer retail channel,&quot; he said. Price points on PCs tend to be lower in the retail market, and retail buyers are more sensitive to cost than online buyers, McCarron said.AMD said the move was part of a strategy to offer a wider range of AMD-based PCs through retail channels. &quot;We are always evaluating product offerings and how customers can access them,&quot; Camden said.Not many consumers buy systems based on the processor type, she said, and few distinguish between AMD and Intel processors. Users select PCs based mostly on price and what they will use them for, such as surfing the Web or playing music and videos, she said.Dell has expanded its in-store offerings over the past six months by signing up more retailers, including Best Buy and Wal-Mart in the U.S., Tesco in the U.K., and Bic Camera in Japan.The retail strategy helped the company expand its lead over Hewlett-Packard as the largest U.S. PC vendor in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to IDC. However, HP remained the world&#39;s largest PC dealer, topping Dell, Acer and Lenovo, IDC said.Hewlett-Packard already offers more AMD-based PCs in retail than online, so Dell&#39;s decision isn&#39;t a first, McCarron said. Until it won over top-tier PC vendors several years ago, AMD relied on the retail market and white-box vendors for its chip sales.The effect of Dell&#39;s strategy shift on AMD remains to be seen, McCarron said. It is a large and important PC vendor, but it is also a relatively new partner for AMD.AMD has suffered some setbacks recently, reporting five straight quarterly losses and delaying shipments of some new desktop and server processors. Its market share was 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, down a fraction from the year before, while Intel&#39;s market share climbed slightly to 77 percent, according to IDC.
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Walmart and Linspire (formerly Lindows) have partnered up to sell a sub $500 laptop through the large retail chain. &quot;Walmart.
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By Loren Steffy, Houston Chronicle  May 30--Dell may be losing its religion, but Wal-Mart is an unlikely savior.   Last week, the computer maker, known for its direct sales by phone and the Internet, said it would begin selling PCs through the discount chain.
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Dell will sell its PCs through Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, breaking with 23 years of direct sales tradition.
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(InfoWorld) - The new team of leaders at Dell is weighing a request to give customers the option to purchase PCs with the Linux OS, instead of the default Windows, after thousands of users voted for that idea on a company blog. The idea appeared Friday on a company-hosted blog called Dell Idea Storm. CEO Michael Dell unveiled the blog Feb. 16 as part of hisÂ effort to reinvigorate the struggling company. Dell said he hoped to use the blog to collect users' feedback and improve customer service. Since then, company executives and department heads have been monitoring the site, paying closest attention to the ideas winning the most votes, Dell spokeswoman Caroline Dietz said on Wednesday. The most popular threads on Wednesday included demands for Linux-based laptops, consumer PCs that are not pre-loaded with unsolicited applications and requests for Sun Microsystems' OpenOffice applications instead of Microsoft's Office suite. Popular requests also included a preference for Mozilla's Firefox Web browser instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and pleas for Dell to stop routing service calls to operators in overseas countries such as India. Dell leaders have heard those ideas "loud and clear," and plan to post a statement on the blog this week explaining how they will react, Dietz said. But she warned that the company would judge ideas on more than just their popularity. "Just because an idea is number one or number two doesn't necessarily mean Dell will do it, but it does mean it will receive the highest level of attention," she said. Dell has already changed the blog rules to make the voting more accurate, after the site was flooded over the weekend by certain users clicking multiple times on their favorite links, Dietz said. Beginning Wednesday, Dell required users to register, ensuring that each person can vote just once for each posting. Another misleading aspect of popular threads is that each vote awards postings 10 "points," meaning that the Linux thread has about six thousand supporters, not the posted number of 67,703. The second-most popular thread -- the request for OpenOffice -- has 40,572 points, and a plea to avoid unwanted software applications has 27,476 points. Most other ideas on the 95-page blog have won only a handful of votes. Despite the blog's problems, Dell will someday decide to sell Linux-based PCs in their consumer market, experts say. "Look, they already have a strong partnership with Red Hat and Oracle to move Linux into the enterprise server space. I think what they're waiting for is some more compelling applications to show up on Linux for personal use. Think about what you use your laptop for -- it's usually office, games, music and Internet access. When all of these things come together in a consumer-friendly, seamless way there will be a case for Dell to adopt Linux on portables to sell to the masses," said Joe Clabby, president of Clabby Analytics. "My 84 year-old father-in-law only needs his PC for light word processing and for AOL access. He can get plenty of Linux word processors -- but where's AOL Linux? When the right applications show up, and when they are integrated, it will all come together," Clabby said. Fixing Dell's finances could call for such a bold move. Once a Wall Street darling thanks to its innovative "direct sales" business model, Dell has struggled in recent months with falling profits, anÂ accounting investigationÂ by federal stock regulators, a lawsuit by disgruntled investors, aÂ notebook battery recallÂ and finally the resignation on Jan. 31 of Dell's hand-picked successor as CEO, Kevin Rollins. SinceÂ resuming his job as CEOÂ of the company he founded in 1984, Dell has moved quickly to restore investors' confidence by ousting several long-time executives and replacing them with leaders from outside technology companies including Motorola and Selectron. Â
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Dell Inc  said on Monday it  would sell its latest range of personal computers through  China&#39;s largest electronics retailer, GOME Group, aiming to  improve on its single-digit mainland market share.
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Dell plans to sell computers with preinstalled Linux outside the U.S. as well as offer the Ubuntu Linux distribution to small business customers.
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Dell Inc. DELL.O plans to open its   own retail stores on a city-by-city basis and does not expect   to sell its personal computers through shops like Best Buy Co.   BBY.N, a senior executive said on Tuesday.
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Dell Inc.  plans to open its  own retail stores on a city-by-city basis and does not expect  to sell its personal computers through shops like Best Buy Co.  , a senior executive said on Tuesday.