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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By Don Mecoy, The Oklahoman  May 25--Dell Inc. will begin selling desktop computers in Wal-Mart next  month, but that should have no effect on the direct consumer sales at Dell's  Oklahoma City operation, a company spokesman said Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - Dell Inc. is working on plans to sell PCs through retail stores in Asia and Australia, as part of a wider shift within the company away from using only direct sales. Dell will add retail channels for PC sales in India, China, Australia and Japan, said T.R. Reid, a company spokesman. Dell will continue selling PCs directly to customers in these countries, which are the company's most important markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Reid did not say when retail PC sales would start in Asia, but indicated the company is talking to retail partners in the region. "There's really strong interest on the part of potential partners," he said. The addition of retail sales representsÂ a major strategy shift for Dell. The company pioneered the direct sales model during the 1990s, eschewing traditional PC sales channels for the Internet and telephone hotlines to become the world's biggest PC vendor. Until recently, Dell executives repeatedly dismissed the idea that retail sales would help reach customers in countries like China, saying direct sales would suffice. Dell's long-standing aversion to retail sales ended this year with the return of Michael Dell as company CEO in January. In the face of a U.S. Securities and Exchange investigation into the company's finances and sliding sales that toppled the company from its number-one spot, Dell has looked to reverse the company's fortunes. Part of his strategy includes embracing the retail channel, which has proved instrumental in the recent strong performance of rivals such as Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. On June 10,Â the first Dell PCs went on sale with Wal-Mart StoresÂ in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The company is now selling two desktop PC models through Wal-Mart, both of which are priced under US$700, based on plans announced last month. Â ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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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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Dell Inc  said it would  sell personal computers, printers, monitors and ink supplies in  1,400 Staples Inc  stores in the United States, its  latest move into retail after breaking from 23 years of selling  directly to consumers.
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Blog: Move follows company's previous announcement that Wal-Mart will sell its desktops.
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Dell Inc.  said on Thursday it is experimenting with new ways to sell computers, a first step that analysts say is needed if Dell wants to better compete with Hewlett-Packard Co.  and Apple Inc. .
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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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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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Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  said on Friday its Sam's Club unit will start selling Dell Inc.  notebook computers for $899 each at more than 580 U.S. stores beginning in mid-June.
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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 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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Dell laptops will appear in 500 of Wal-Mart's Sam's Club stores starting next week, the company says.
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InfoWorld - Underlining its expansion from online to retail sales, Dell launched desktop and notebook PCs Tuesday at Macy&#39;s department store in New York.
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ROUND ROCK, Texas--Dell plans to continue expanding its stable of consumer electronics products and services throughout the rest of the year, looking to the gear to help it generate new customers and ultimately to sell more PCs.
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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. plans to sell computers with preinstalled Linux outside the U.S. as well as offer the Ubuntu Linux distribution to small business customers.