How and why did the personal computer industry come to have such low average profitability? The PC industry has started to develop fast in the 80 's when IBM launched its first PC series and later on when numerous small companies entered the market. PC is a new product and companies had to create the demand to it from the scratch. We shall apply the Porter 's 5 Forces model to examine the PC market and see how forces of competition influence the profitability of the market players. (See Appendix 1 for detailed description of how does certain parameter influence the market.) Entrance barriers are: The initial investment is relatively low (1.1) Brand loyalty is average to low (1.2) Switching costs of the market player are average. …show more content…
See table 2 Dell 's net income gross (1992 - 1998) - 1750.98%. More than 4 times over HP (436,4%) the second best performing player and twice over Compaq (770%). Revenues of Dell increased on 1285% against 660% of Compaq (1992-1998). From this data it can be seen that at Dell net income gross exceeds the revenue gross, while Compaq didn 't succeed to use the revenues incline to make income. Inventory (table 2) Inventory turnover increase of 634.9% at Dell against 202% at Compaq shows the competitive advantage if Dell in managing and maintaining its stocks Customer service (table 3) In serving its customers Dell has succeeded more than its rivals. It can be seen from the table 3 that ranks PC manufactures based on Consumer Report where Dell won the 1st rank place. Competitive advantage of Dell in serving customers in comparison with other manufacturers can be also seen on table 3. Concerning corporate customer service by Dell and Compaq should be mentioned deep understanding of customer needs at Dell Corporation and 24/7 support against based on forecast production system with 64 days of delivery period. (see Appendix 4, 4.1 for detailed explanation) 4. How effective have competitors been in responding to the challenge posed by Dell 's advantage? How big is Dell 's advantage? The steps of competitors threaten the competitive
The advantages of Dells model are: The internet allows Dell an extensive scope and reach for its products at a relatively low price (Dedrick and Kraemer 2001). Using the internet Dell has been able to automate many of its business functions, such as product configuration, order entry and technical support (Dedrick & Kraemer 2001), therefore the company can achieve higher revenues without customer service costs increasing greatly. Online configuration ensures that the customer gets exactly what they want. Dells build to order strategy means that inventory levels are low, they only hold approximately 4-8 days of stock, therefore inventory costs are low (Breen 2004).
Since the beginning Dell has been selling customized computers. In 1988 Dell became a public company, turning the company more profitable by acquiring new investors. From 1990 to 1993, Dell used to sell computers in retail stores such as Wall Mart, Best Buy, Staples, etc. and because of low profit as results, in 1994, the company refocused its strategy to direct sales, eliminating retailers, wholesalers and consequently acquired satisfied customers by reducing cost and time for them and also the company. In 1997 the company became the low cost leader in pc vendors. During 2002-2007 the company had 7 elements as its strategy: making build-to-order manufacturing progressively more cost-efficient; partnering closely with suppliers to reduce cost of the supply chain; using direct sales techniques to gain customers; expanding into additional products and services and technical support; keeping R&D and engineering activities focused on better meeting the needs of customers, and using standardized technologies in all product offerings. As a conclusion, Dell has been always changing its strategy according to customer needs and in a way to make the company more profitable.
"Dell's mission is to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve. In doing so, Dell will meet customer expectations of:
Dell Computer Corporation was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell. From the early 1990s until the mid-2000s, Dell was ranked as a PC market leader relying on their distinctive marketing pattern “Direct Model” which undertook direct communication with customers and provided customized products. Recently, the PC industry is facing inconceivable worldwide competition, and Dell is gradually losing their competitive advantages by using its direct model in critical business segments. The company is facing shrinkage of growth, increasing competition, declining quality of customer service, and limitation of expansion. These issues have an enormous impact on Dell’s position as a technological giant in the PC industry.
Dell Company has a successful business strategy. As it is following cost leadership strategy. Its success story is hidden in cost proposition, delivery, and unique customization. In response to the high performance and better chances for growth Dell is applying two way strategy parallel to one another.
The products of Dell are known for their quality, service & on time delivery. Their focus on customer satisfaction helped them overtake their competitors and acquire Number 1 position in the market.
* Dell’s success continued through 1992, until in 1993, it faced an operating loss for 1st time.
PC industry is characterized by fast declining ASP year over year. Together with the increasing component costs from 2009, both Dell and HP are facing squeezing profit margins (HP 2010; Dell 2010). In the first quarter of 2011, HP’s gross margin for its Personal System Group (PSG) is as low as 6.4% (Epstein 2011). Similarly, Dell’s gross margin of PCs is often 3 to 5% (Wang 2010). This indicates that if both
Dell is considered a very successful company. According to Govindarajan & Gupta (2005) one of the successes is its customer-direct concept that has been practiced since the company 's inception. The concept involves dealing with customers directly and not through a third party, which helps maintain the quality of the relationship with its customers and also the products. In addition, this concept allows Dell to eliminate unnecessary inventories, warehouse space and storage expenses. Dell succeeds by expanding its business, which can be measured by how it creates relationships with other big businesses, such as Walmart, Boeing, and Ford. Dell expands its business by providing products other than computers, for
The precise targeting that is the key to the success of the direct marketing program at Dell
This essay will focus predominantly on Dell Compter Inc and how it uses customer data to drive the manufacturing of its products. Discussion on how Dell uses technology to make business decisions is presented. The current model of distribution is investigated and finally recommendations will be made in terms of overall improvement to the current operating model.
Dell is the second world largest PC market. The company holds a market leader positioning in the PC manufacturing world some of the Strengths are:
Dell is among the fastest growing companies in the IT world. Dell started out as a company manufacturing PC’s and slowly developed as a big giant in IT industry. Today, Dell has an IT division which takes care of the cyber security called Dell Secure works. Dell designs, develops, manufactures, services and supports a range of computer systems including, desktops, laptops and enterprise products. Dell went public in 1988, capitalization for Dell increased to $85 Million Dollars from $1,000.00 in 1984. By 1996, Dell had become the 3rd largest hardware vendor in the world. In the late 1980’s Dell started gaining advantage with its PC business in the late 90’s. IBM was one of the big player in the industry
Although Dell is an extremely successful company, there are areas of improvement and enhancement that should be considered. After a thorough analysis of Dell¡¯s IT tools, business model, IT infrastructure and competitive advantage, we have developed seven key suggestions. By implementing these recommendations, Dell can keep its high ranking in the competitive computer industry by increasing customer satisfaction, competitive advantage and superior value chain, without changing its principal operations to achieve these goals.
With a net revenue of $61,133,000,000 is the second largest computer manufacturer company in the word and the number one in United States. Dell focuses on Business to Business(B2B) and Business to Consumer(B2C) commerce to satisfy their business and individual customers. Dell differentiates between classes of customers because the needs of their business customers, who buy large quantities of computers, are different than the individuals who want to configure a single unit. The present