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Dell's Marketshare Decline Due to Intel?
timeOday writes "News.com reports that Dell's PC sales are growing more slowly than the overall PC market for the first time on record. Gartner's Charles Smulders blames Dell's decline on their allegiance to Intel, and cites Hewlett Packard's embrace of AMD as a key to their growing sales. Can Dell continue to shun AMD, or is a breakthrough imminent for the #2 chipmaker?"
Is it really Dell's allegiance to Intel, or is it market saturation?
Why gamers don't take them seriously. Hopefully they'll be content to let Alienware do their thing and won't try and foist Intel on them.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Could it be because Dell sucks and people are sick and tired of calling tech support only to speak with someone they can barely understand from India who claims his name is "Bill".
The problem here is Intel doesn't have a processor that the public views as solid and powerful. They have a processor that fits that description (dual core mobile), but they try to push P4s at people instead.
Dell is only failing because they expect Intel to do all their work for them. If they want people to get back on board they'll have to convince them that their systems perform well.
Their models are so unlinked to the processors that they carry that this will be a disaster for dell to handle simply because they have a stupid branding scheme. Moving to AMD wont help dell, but solidifying their position will.
This whole summary is based on a false premise. I for one think it's absolutely absurd to suggest that following Hewlett Packard's business plan is a good idea. If you do that everyone will just think you're the other HP.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
Dell has long been the leader because they have been able to ship easily configurable PCs quickly and dependably to their customers. Now anyone can do that. They used to offer premium discounts on their PCs. Now anyone can do that.
Dell has always used very marginal hardware in several levels of their lineup. Perhaps this is what has caught up with them. Another company who used to sell well until their reputation caught up with them was Packard Bell. If you keep shipping inferior product, at some point you will get called on it.
Now, does it hurt that they need to keep prices high in order to offer genuine Intel Inside PCs? You bet. But that's just a straw on the camel's back. It was the heavy load that broke the camel in the first place.
I believe it has more to do with Dells ailing reputation than it does not sticking to intel. The fact is the *quality* that was once associated with Dell isn't really there, and hasn't been for a long time, and consumers are wising up to this. Plus, there is some good competition out there for dell in the low end computer market. emachines, for example.
Dell has appeared to be far more expensive than eMachines/Gateway, Acer, and Compaq/HP for low-end desktops over the past year, even without shipping. These are no doubt low margin machines, but probably a high percentage of consumer retail sales. Dell's just not trying very hard at the low end.
Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
I think there are natural limits on growth. Every entity that grows has to fight entrophy. The larger something becomes, the more difficult it is to fight against entrophy. We see the same thing with biological evolution, with the growth and calapse of empires and religions. It just doesn't make sense (and I would argue it is not desirable), that Dell would contantly grow it's share of the market forever (and, of course, eventually it would have a monopoly if it did).
The question I have, is how could Dell sales NOT slow down?
I'd chalk it up to worsening customer service and support first. I know people who had been Dell users since win 98, but after purchasing a Dell within the last couple of years wont do it again because of their customer support and they dont last like they used to. I dont think the average buyer would actively seek and AMD over Intel, they would just pick AMD if it was cheaper.
That's not a Dell-specific problem. Name a major computer vendor that doesn't do that. HP, Gateway, Dell... it's all the same. Personally, I still like Dell's support and warrenty plans and have had great luck calling their support number, but for myself, I'd always build, so it's rather egal.
Also, I want to know why everyone thinks Dell is awesome. They're just notebooks from Sagers manufacturing lines (http://sagernotebooks.com/ and relabeled.
Just buy a Sager directly, skip the Dell process, and you can score an AMD Turion, X2, or heck, even a 7900Go SLI laptop, which is excessive and inane if you ask me, but, Sager seems to be where the real power lies these days.
The thing people forget about bleeding-edge style computer saavy, technocrats is that they have market spill-over value. While it's true that not everyon will be like the most informed geeks in the world, and most will likely think Intels are great, that's what everyone has, let's face it: people who know nothing about computers ask for advice from others.
I've been personally responsible for many system purchases that didn't involve the Intel tax. In all of these cases the computer I recommended worked just as well for the person as it would've with an Intel (if not better), and they saved money. So while there might be only a few geeks that know which processor is more worth your buck, they are the ones making the buying decisions for others in a lot of cases. Dell never accounts for this factor. And in short, it's performance/price ratio stupid... At least offer your customers a choice.
Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
http://consumer.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0L DgsLGhjb25zdW1lcg==
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~~~~ On Dell's Web site, the XPS series is marketed directly to gamers and high-performance power users. The XPS series is under the gaming tag, and they claim right on the front page of the Dell.com site that, "We take your gaming experience as seriously as you do." The next line: "XPS show just how serious we are" is more telling. If the Dimension XPS400 is any indication, Dell considers computer gamers a joke. Harsh, yes. But we think it's accurate. ~~~~
http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=MTgxNTgsQXB
~~~~~ f you've read our [H] Consumer evaluation of Dell's XPS 400, you'll remember that "value-added" software got in the way of our everyday use of the machine. Well, I've recently been made aware of a third party's attempt to remedy this situation for those of you that may not want to mess around with uninstalling unnecessary software yourself, or would rather have an unattended way of completing the job. It's a sad state of affairs when you buy a new computer these days and it comes pre-loaded with a ton of garbage software that brings your new machine to a crawl. If anyone's bought a Dell PC in the last few years, you probably know what I'm talking about. ~~~
actually I am happy to see you, however that is in fact a banana in my pocket.
Dell's decline is due to its denunciation by the dumped Dell Dude.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
It almost seems like an unnatural progression but it is possible.
Back in the 8088s - 286 days IBM was King of the PCs By the 386-486 Gateway Became king then Pentium Dell took over. It wasn't because of price At the time each respective vender was priced a bit more the the rest. Then after they became king of the mountain the only way they could still compete (More) is by price shaving which lowered its quality so The next guy came in selling a higher quality product at a slightly higher price and the customers were happy with it and by word of mouth they became #1.
I remember people going I am going to get a Gateway because I heard they are reliable for their 486. Then by 1999 I hear people go Next Time I am going to get a Dell because this Gateway is a piece of crap (after having to swap 3 drives and a motherboard) In a year. Now Dells quality is getting more and more shaky and their support is getting more cheap. So who will be the next Dell? Right now the best I am hearing that Apple Computers while may cost a bit more are of better quality and with the Intel Chips you can put windows on it as a fail safe emotional device. But It could also be HP/Compaq turn if they get on the Gun and made better PCs. I originally had AlienWare as the next Dell but Dell just bought them so who knows. But I don't think AMD has anything to do with it, it is about Quality not manufactures.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I just bought an Inspiron E1505 laptop, and I don't agree about the shoddy product. It's better built than my last Toshiba, and the HP/Compaqs I've had at work.
That being said, what did disturb me was the ordering process. Dell used to pride itself on having good knowledge of it's supply chain and streamlining their delivery.
I ordered on March 23rd. The expected delivery date when I first ordered was April 10. By the time I got the email confirmation it had become April 18th. Dell has a website where you can track the status of your order. It went from prepping to build to testing all in one day.
Then it sat in the 'boxing' stage for 3 days.
The laptop finally arrived on April 5th. Ahead of their initial schedule.
But I found it disturbing that they really had no idea of how long it would take. In reading the notebookforums dell boards, there are others who have ordered different models who are still waiting 2-3 months later, because of a shortage of some part, or an engineering flaw, etc.
I believe part of the reason for the change, is that all assembly(at least for the Inspiron laptops) is done in Malaysia. It took 3 days to box the laptop because they had to fly it back from over there.
Anyway, just interesting. I had not purchased a Dell for myself in 10 years, and while I like it and still feel I got a better deal than the competition. I will have to say the process left much to be desired.
In my experience, HP might be a better choice for a home computer, but it would take a lot to make me choose an HP over Dell in the business world. Good design, good support, fast shipping times... My boss once wanted me to buy PCs for the office with AMD chips (because his son-in-law works in marketing for AMD). HP estimated six weeks to ship the machines while comparable Intel systems from Dell shipped in less than a week.
Maybe with Fiorino gone, things are changing, but HP was once a company I trusted to produce quality hardware. Now, it doesn't matter whether it's printers, PCs, servers or anything else, HP is the LAST company I look to.
One example: I bought an HP multimedia USB keyboard from someone on Ebay. Because it was a keyboard that shipped with a 'consumer' system, and HP only supported Win '98 and XP on their 'consumer' systems, there was no windows 2000 driver support for the features on this keyboard. Later, I upgraded to XP, but HP at that time had no drivers available for download for the keyboard.
Another: windows-only printers and printers that when you try to locate drivers on HPs site, you are told that they are no longer available, for printers that are less than 5 years old.
A few years ago, my opinion was the opposite... Dell servers simply couldn't start to compete with Compaq. They were beefed-up PCs. It's funny, because now the reverse is true. Their servers and office PCs are fantastic machines, but they're playing catch-up in the home, as customizations, see-thru cases, light-up fans, etc, have become more popular. The business world IS saturated, as well as tired of having to upgrade. Now that XP has been around for a while, and nothing new is on the horizon for the near-term, I think businesses are going to operate in maintenance mode until Vista and the next upgrade cycle begins. That's going to hurt Dell more, because they're the largest office PC supplier.
These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
Dude, no one's getting a Dell.
I understand that Dell would like you to simply replace the box more often, that's in their own interest. But it's in my own interest not to recommend Dell to people to whom I provide "informal" tech support.
I am not a crackpot.
Any time you create a product out of the least expensive components you can get, you always end up with an inferior product. All the box brands are guilty of this, but not just because they are evil corporations. People are demanding cheaper computers. But most businesses I deal with aren't buying the systems available from Best Buy, WalMart, or any of the other consumer lines. They get business-class models, which are built totally differently than their home-user counterparts. They cost more than the $399 special advertised on TV, but they work better, are easier to fix, and are just a far superior product. Thats my 10 bits :)
Dell is no exception. Indeed, I think compared to many other vendors they are not that bad in terms of actual hardware. Their support on the other hand is absolutely horrible. I have had several customers who have had to order replacement parts and it is a pain. I can expect to spend on hour on the phone to order a replacement Windows CD or a heat sink retention assembly. That time gets billed to my customers. Parts replacement up until recently was handled in the US but that too has been offshored to India.
Of course hardware replacement is the exception rather than the rule, so generally, I am still comfortable recommending Dell with the caveat that they are better to pay for my support services than try to call Dell.
LedgerSMB: Open source Accounting/ERP
I tried that, but the duct tape covered up part of the LCD panel and when the hard drive got warm, the hot-glue melted and the hard drive and battery fell out.
I finally just bought a used Dell CP-600 (PIII/850) for $250. I dunno, maybe laptops are rocket science.You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
"Math in a song is good."-Linford
As a fairly well-known technician hereabouts, I'm often asked for advice about purchasing systems, particularly laptops, etc.
Back in the day, I might have recommended Dell. Their laptops were fairly well features, reliable, and competetively priced. Note that the AMD/Intel difference might place into the last factor nowadays...
Anyhow, my more recent experience with Dell has been just as indicated: they've ridden their previously decent reputation for awhile but now their crappy call-centres, incompatible parts, and not-so-great quality is starting to bite them. Dell computers are getting more and more cheap nowadays, and that's in quality as well as price.
Now let's look at some of the others:
- IBM systems (up until Lenovo, who I don't have too much experience with recently) are generally reliable but less-featured (esp with the small HDD sizes)... still I'd say they are or were good for the office types who wanted a system that would keep on ticking.
- I haven't had many problems with Toshiba laptops, other than the gazillion little tray icons that the have loading at startup to control the touchpad/wireless/burner/etc settings. I turn most of the unnecessary ones off though, and lots of laptops have 'em... so no biggy. The newer laptops seem a bit more thin/plasticy though so I'll be keeping an eye on them, but they've been good so far other than a few here at the office that have been shitkicked (big big scuffing marks).
- HP: Well, I'm using one now. I've got one at home. The home model (ZD7000) has a built-in defect wherein it doesn't like having two sticks of RAM in with high-memory graphics/etc applications (spontaneous reboots). Not great, but that's the only model where I've seen that issue and haggling with HP eventually scored me a free 1GB stick of RAM for that laptop. It works fine for me, and despite being lugged around regularly it's been durable. My office-style work compaq (NX8220) aside from giving me nightmares configuring the ATI graphics card, has been both reliable and durable as well. AMD64 processors in the newer compaqs (and me being a linux user) scores personal points and recommendations for other linux users (such as at work), but not recommendations for the windows users. Compaq laptops also were known to be not great in quality before, but that seems to have quite improved with HP making them.
- Acer: You get what you pay for. Acer's have quite a lot of features for your buck. I've also seen generations spanning three years that had consistant power unit/modulator issues, and quite a few with screen burnout. However, I might add that I do have a (non-laptop) Acer LCD at home, and it's holding up nicely, so maybe they're improving in that area... however the plasticy feel and the rumours I've heard about HDD burnout make me tend to say "whatever you get, try to avoid Acer" to most people who ask advice.
- Sony: When you buy Sony, you're buying a brandname. And proprietary parts. And a sinking brandname. Overpriced and underperforming are usually two good words
Now, back to desktops. I haven't seen too many Dells explode lately but when I do look in them I find relatively cheap parts (motherboard) and massive compatability issues with standard parts. Floppy drives won't fit properly behind the happy little Dell bezels, power supplies can be funk or custom, and sometimes even PCI/etc cards don't seem to go in right. Sure, you can buy a cheap Dell machine, but upgrading or adding/repairing any parts is oftimes a major pain.
I wouldn't actively recommend against Dell, but I'd still advise caution to potential Dell buyers, and that's a step down from the days when I happily promoted how my little Dell laptops kept on kickin' (hell, some of the older P-II era ones are outlasting the more current gens)
You can on
For a short time only... Try your tests again after the launch of Conroe - on both server and desktop AMD are in deep shit when Intel's Core stuff is fully rolled out, shortly after July from what I'm reading on the usual sites.