Dell Going Private In $24.4 Billion Agreement

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Dell Going Private In $24.4 Billion Agreement

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 5, 2013 @04:35AM from the next-month-back-in-the-old-dorm-room dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "Dell is going private again, as the result of a $24.4 billion deal involving private-equity investors and Microsoft. The deal will close before the end of the second quarter of Dell's fiscal 2014, according to Reuters. Dell founder and namesake Michael Dell, who owns roughly 14 percent of the company's common shares, will continue to lead the newly privatized venture as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He will contribute his existing shares to the new company, on top of a 'substantial' additional cash investment. As with other hardware manufacturers in the space, Dell faces the specter of a softening PC market. And while Dell has made significant efforts to penetrate other markets—including the launch of a private cloud architecture based on the open-source OpenStack—that weakness has affected its bottom line: for its fiscal 2013 third quarter, the company reported an 11 percent decrease in revenue from the previous year; while it enjoyed an increase in revenue from its servers and services businesses, revenue from its Consumer division dipped 23 percent. Its Large Enterprise, Small and Medium Business, and Public revenue also declined." Another take at the New York Times.

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Memo to investors: by davidwr · 2013-02-05 04:39 · Score: 0

Dudes, you are getting a Dell.

--
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
1. Re:Memo to investors: by Stargoat · 2013-02-05 04:58 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  More importantly, they are getting Dell tech support.
  My condolences.
  
  --
  Hoist Number One and Number Six.
2. Re:Memo to investors: by NatasRevol · 2013-02-05 05:22 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And the CEO that led them to this place.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
3. Re:Memo to investors: by jd2112 · 2013-02-05 05:37 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  More importantly, they are getting Dell tech support.
  My condolences.
  Actually Dell's Enterprise level support is fairly good. Fortunately I haven't had much experience with consumer level support.
  
  --
  Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
4. Re:Memo to investors: by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-02-05 07:04 · Score: 2
  
  Actually Dell's Enterprise level support is fairly good.
  The only downside is, you have to pay for it in gold-pressed latinum.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
5. Re:Memo to investors: by __aaeihw9960 · 2013-02-05 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  I have owned one Dell laptop. I had a problem with that laptop, so I was forced to call customer support. It was an awesome experience. They walked me through all the regular nonsense (restart, etc), had me run one diagnostic and tell them the results, and they sent a tech out to fix the issue within a week. Overall, 8.5/10 experience (it would have been higher, but it was a new laptop and shouldn't have had hardware issues to begin with. But the tech was hot.)
  Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been employed by, paid by in any fashion, or at all related to Dell computers. Except for that laptop, that is.
6. Re:Memo to investors: by ackthpt · 2013-02-05 07:28 · Score: 1
  
  More importantly, they are getting Dell tech support.
  My condolences.
  Actually Dell's Enterprise level support is fairly good. Fortunately I haven't had much experience with consumer level support.
  Back in the early days of the company had excellent quality products and support was excellent. Much more recently we've elimitated them as a source due to quality issues. Doesn't matter how good the support is if the machines keep failing.
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
7. Re:Memo to investors: by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:38 · Score: 0
  
  whereas IBM/HP support accept only latinum-gold-pressed latinum.
8. Re:Memo to investors: by NJRoadfan · 2013-02-05 07:44 · Score: -1, Flamebait
  
  You still sound like a shill. Last time I had to call them, it took an hour on the phone with someone in India to convince them to send the onsite tech to replace the logic board on a laptop. There was an issue with the SATA controller not working properly (I ruled out a bad HD already), so it wasn't something that would fail on a diagnostic or hardware test. No problems when the tech showed up to replace the board, and the laptop is actually working properly now. Before, HD I/O would randomly freeze for 30 seconds and then resume like nothing happened.
9. Re:Memo to investors: by LVSlushdat · 2013-02-05 07:56 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  So, sparky, anybody who likes Dell systems, and has had good experiences with their support and dares to tell about it on a public forum is, to you, a shill... Have I got that right?? I also like Dell's enterprise systems (Optiplex/Precision/PowerEdge/Latitude), and the support for those systems. Since until about 2 years ago, I'd been supporting about 200 of these Dell systems in my then day-job, and have been doing so for 10+ years, I think I might know a thing or two about these Dell systems, and have some credibility in what I've experienced with their support... But you go right ahead and keep calling people shills who haven't had the same experience as you....
  
  --
  THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
10. Re:Memo to investors: by dnahelicase · 2013-02-05 08:27 · Score: 1
  
  You still sound like a shill.
  He might sound like it, but I have no reason to either, and I've generally had pretty darn good experiences, both with consumer and with enterprise support. I've only dealt with enterprise support once, but it was super easy.
  Sure, you might have to go through the effort and it might take you an hour with support, but you can't expect them to send out someone to replace a motherboard without asking questions. I've found, if you answer the questions correctly, act very cooperative, and try just a couple things they suggest without complaining, you can usually get what you want in 20 minutes or less.
  You must realize, that for everyone that calls and actually knows what they are talking about, there are 10 that call and say their "hard drive box" is bad, get upset, and ended up not having the thing plugged in - or worse, someone of that level of intelligence that demands ram chips or something be fixed because their very knowledgeable nephew said so.
  .
11. Re:Memo to investors: by Yakasha · 2013-02-05 08:30 · Score: 1
  
  But you go right ahead and keep calling people shills who haven't had the same experience as you....
  
  ..A conservatives definition of Truth is VERY different from a liberal's definition of truth".. like day and night...
  cute combination.
12. Re:Memo to investors: by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-05 09:09 · Score: 1
  
  Actually Dell's Enterprise level support is fairly good. Fortunately I haven't had much experience with consumer level support.
  For somewhat mysterious reasons, they semi-bifurcated their consumer line into "Inspiron" and "XPS". There is a lot of overlap in specs(most models on one side of the fence are just a plastics kit away from a model on the other, though 'XPS' usually has more of the optional upgrades pre-added); but the "XPS" line also comes with nicer support, reasonably close to the support on enterprise desktop/laptop stuff, with just a few more dumb questions ahead of time because they aren't sure you are an actual tech.
  "Inspiron" support is rather less exciting.
13. Re:Memo to investors: by PRMan · 2013-02-05 09:37 · Score: 1
  
  Back in the day, I bought a server (400 SC) for $274 and it was DOA with a dead motherboard. A guy showed up the very next morning at 8 AM and replaced it for free. So I had a GREAT experience. Granted, that was a long time ago, but Dell has been good in the past.
  Contrast this with the HP guy who used to show up at our company with no tools or parts to meet the 4 hour requirement, and then take a week or 2 to come back and put in a RAM chip (of course we stuck a good RAM chip in there and put the PC back in service while he was gone, and then told the user we needed to "fix" her machine again when he came back and replaced the bad RAM chip, which we had put back in there).
  
  --
  Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
14. Re:Memo to investors: by jcr · 2013-02-05 10:13 · Score: 2
  
  You still sound like a shill.
  He sounds to me like someone who was a Dell customer a long time ago. Don't forget, they used to have the best-rated customer service in the whole PC market. I was quite happy with them myself back around '96 or so when I was using Dell machines to run NeXTSTEP.
  -jcr
  
  --
  The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
15. Re:Memo to investors: by NJRoadfan · 2013-02-05 10:58 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I remember those days fondly. My experience with them has been on the consumer side of things for many years as a tech. Many customers brought in machines to a computer store I worked at, which usually landed up with one of the techs having to call Dell and get a part replaced under warranty. It used to be a simple process, which it likely still is on the enterprise/business support side, but it was nothing but frustration on the home/consumer side as the years went on. My only experience with their enterprise side was at my current job when the IT dept had to replace a bunch of those infamous Optiplex GX270s with the bad caps.
  I remember being able to order things like replacement laptop keyboards from them without a problem. I used to call them up, get someone in Texas on the phone, state that the keyboard was broken (long out of warranty) and needed a replacement. All they used to ask for was the express service code to confirm that the right part was ordered and a credit card for payment. Just try doing that today.
16. Re:Memo to investors: by Mike+Frett · 2013-02-05 11:22 · Score: 1
  
  Dude you're getting Windows 8 and Gorilla Arms. Shush about our Monopoly and say bye-bye to our Linux servers. Ho Ho Ho
17. Re:Memo to investors: by um...+Lucas · 2013-02-05 11:43 · Score: 1
  
  My office is all dell. Server died a few Fridays ago. Never saw anything like it before - start up, get to "applying computer settings", flash bluescreen, restart and do the same thing again. After not to long on the phone, running some diagnostics which didn't include asking for the error code, or acting at all interested when I tried to tell them what it was, they resolved to send a new motherboard and raid controller. Forgot to tell you, but i was clear to them, the situation was repeatable booting from the cd. Tuesday arrived, the tech installed it, same thing. Resolved that it must be software, never mind that it was blue screening from the cd, formatted the drive and same thing. Called again, after hours where you knew the tech was trying to get me to hang up, he offered new ram and CPU. I said maybe they should send new drives too, since that would be all that hadn't been replaced. At that point, he had me go in the raid bios, destroy the raid and create a new one, and that fixed it. I stayed til 6 in the morning restoring the thing and couldn't help but think that they must not track error codes at all - they never asked for them and didn't wan them when offered. Can't help but think hat if they did such simple things my office wouldn't have been dead in the water for three days. I mean, im paying for support, not just a tech to mindlessly send replacement parts that won't fix the issue.
  So, no, no mor dell for me. I'll try my chances elsewhere.
18. Re:Memo to investors: by jcr · 2013-02-05 15:17 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, they really pissed away everything that got them to the top in the first place.
  -jcr
  
  --
  The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
19. Re:Memo to investors: by unixisc · 2013-02-05 19:41 · Score: 1
  
  This is pretty reminiscent of when Apple ended the short lived Mac cloning business and bought out Power Computing. Microsoft wants to enter the hardware business, and the stage is pretty much set for them to either acquire Dell, or make it a partially owned Microsoft company. If they repeat the same thing w/ Nokia, then they'll be a full fledged hardware company like Apple - they'll be making Surface tablets, Dell will be making their PCs and Nokia their phones. Others can forget about Microsoft being this somewhat neutral company that simply provides all PC makers their OSs
20. Re:Memo to investors: by unixisc · 2013-02-05 19:47 · Score: 1
  
  My experience of Dell tech support - during the time I had a Dell - was pretty good. They were one of the few who didn't put me to some girl in India who didn't know the difference between a hub and a router. As for the CEO, one can't blame Dell's CEO if Microsoft has suddenly decided that it wants to get into the hardware business. Dell's losing share has been a part of the PCs losing share story, and they would have been an 'also-ran' had they gotten into the Android market. Their options were indeed limited, and this move looks more like them getting freed of shareholder pressure while they figure out their next game plan - whether it's just being a procurement arm of Microsoft PCs (they aint exactly manufacturing, since it's the Taiwanese guys Gigabyte & Asustek who manufacture PCs, not Dell) or using their brand to come out w/ a new range of products.
21. Re:Memo to investors: by unixisc · 2013-02-05 19:58 · Score: 1
  
  Dunno what the GP's beef is. The one time I called Dell, some years ago, I had a problem w/ my system, and got an American on the phone, who described to me 'System Restore', and that solved my problem really quick. The next time I had a problem w/ that PC was 5 years later, when something on the motherboard quit, and it was time to get a new PC anyway.
  OTOH, there was a time when I called another company's support, which was offshore, and the girl on the other line was an Indian who asked me to disconnect my router. My home configuration was my internet connection to a hub (not switch), and from that hub, I had one connection to the home PC, and another to the work PC (Wi Fi was just getting started in the market). Both weren't working, so when I called them, she asked me whether I had things connected through a router. I didn't - I had just the main DSL modem, whose output then went to a hub, which then went to these 2 computers. Towards the end of the call, I mentioned that I'll try one more thing - connecting the DSL directly to the PC, and the lady on the other end mentioned that she'd asked me to do that at the beginning itself. I told her - you asked me whether I had a router, and I don't. She protested that they were the same thing, and I asked her, incredulously, 'You are a networking person, and think that a hub & router is the same thing'? Of course, she wasn't - she was probably just some ignoramus pulled out of Podunkpur, India, just b'cos she knew some English, but anybody who is batting for a company that's trying to keep you connected ought to know those basic things.
22. Re:Memo to investors: by __aaeihw9960 · 2013-02-06 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  It was 2012.
23. Re:Memo to investors: by __aaeihw9960 · 2013-02-06 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  I promise you I'm not a shill
  PROMISES ON THE INTERNET ARE ALWAYS TRUE
  Anyway - I bought a mid-grade laptop. It started shutting off randomly. It ran just fine if you kept pressure on the battery. So, my first thought was bad connection of some kind. So I kept it plugged in. Then it started randomly shutting off when it was plugged in.
  In the end, the MOBO was smoked, and was probably bad when I received the thing. I called their cs, they walked me through two or three (what I call) idiot catch steps, decided it was something bigger, and sent a tech out. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.
  This is the first time I've been called a shill, though. Pretty exciting. Look at my past comments. I'm plainly just a person. . . .
24. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:27 · Score: 1
  
  My experience of Dell tech support - during the time I had a Dell - was pretty good. They were one of the few who didn't put me to some girl in India who didn't know the difference between a hub and a router.
  You know, I wish people with your experiences actually had audio recordings of said experiences.
25. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:30 · Score: 1
  
  I have owned one Dell laptop. I had a problem with that laptop, so I was forced to call customer support. It was an awesome experience. They walked me through all the regular nonsense (restart, etc), had me run one diagnostic and tell them the results, and they sent a tech out to fix the issue within a week. Overall, 8.5/10 experience (it would have been higher, but it was a new laptop and shouldn't have had hardware issues to begin with. But the tech was hot.)
  Disclaimer: I am not now, nor have I ever been employed by, paid by in any fashion, or at all related to Dell computers. Except for that laptop, that is.
  What in the heck kind of support did you pay for and what country do you live in? I've said it before and I'll say it again - I wish people like you had audio and video recordings of these experiences. Every story and personal experience I've had is the POLAR OPPOSITE.
26. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  So, sparky, anybody who likes Dell systems, and has had good experiences with their support and dares to tell about it on a public forum is, to you, a shill... Have I got that right?? I also like Dell's enterprise systems (Optiplex/Precision/PowerEdge/Latitude), and the support for those systems. Since until about 2 years ago, I'd been supporting about 200 of these Dell systems in my then day-job, and have been doing so for 10+ years, I think I might know a thing or two about these Dell systems, and have some credibility in what I've experienced with their support... But you go right ahead and keep calling people shills who haven't had the same experience as you....
  If someone has nothing but negative experiences and hears someone else say they are awesome will generally react with a "WTF" followed by a "tell me all about it so I can believe you; here's MY story."
27. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  My office is all dell. Server died a few Fridays ago. Never saw anything like it before - start up, get to "applying computer settings", flash bluescreen, restart and do the same thing again. After not to long on the phone, running some diagnostics which didn't include asking for the error code, or acting at all interested when I tried to tell them what it was, they resolved to send a new motherboard and raid controller. Forgot to tell you, but i was clear to them, the situation was repeatable booting from the cd. Tuesday arrived, the tech installed it, same thing. Resolved that it must be software, never mind that it was blue screening from the cd, formatted the drive and same thing. Called again, after hours where you knew the tech was trying to get me to hang up, he offered new ram and CPU. I said maybe they should send new drives too, since that would be all that hadn't been replaced. At that point, he had me go in the raid bios, destroy the raid and create a new one, and that fixed it. I stayed til 6 in the morning restoring the thing and couldn't help but think that they must not track error codes at all - they never asked for them and didn't wan them when offered. Can't help but think hat if they did such simple things my office wouldn't have been dead in the water for three days. I mean, im paying for support, not just a tech to mindlessly send replacement parts that won't fix the issue.
  So, no, no mor dell for me. I'll try my chances elsewhere.
  Not to sound rude, but if you have a tech who can install motherboards, why can't that tech discern between a hardware and a software problem?
  Something is missing here. If you have the ability to make choices, what went wrong here?
28. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  Actually Dell's Enterprise level support is fairly good. Fortunately I haven't had much experience with consumer level support.
  For somewhat mysterious reasons, they semi-bifurcated their consumer line into "Inspiron" and "XPS". There is a lot of overlap in specs(most models on one side of the fence are just a plastics kit away from a model on the other, though 'XPS' usually has more of the optional upgrades pre-added); but the "XPS" line also comes with nicer support, reasonably close to the support on enterprise desktop/laptop stuff, with just a few more dumb questions ahead of time because they aren't sure you are an actual tech.
  "Inspiron" support is rather less exciting.
  Should I even inquire what the price tag on the XPS line you're referencing is? ;)
29. Re:Memo to investors: by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 06:18 · Score: 0
  
  It would seem that you don't know the difference between a DSL modem and a router. You might have had a DSL modem with a router built into it, but I highly doubt that your DSL modem magically both connected to the phone company and gave you multiple external IP addresses. At some point, there was a router there, probably built into what you are calling your DSL modem. You know what? This is just too stupid to continue. You, sir, are a moron. Damnit, I've just trolled myself. Dumb.
30. Re:Memo to investors: by unixisc · 2013-02-06 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  No, you are the cretin here, since she wanted me to connect the DSL modem directly to the PC, and not through anything in between, so she obviously wasn't thinking about that as the router. And even if you were correct, which you couldn't be, given how clueless you are about the differences between single port DSL modems and multi port routers, she would still be wrong (for a different reason) if she asked me to disconnect the router (i.e. the modem in your imaginary scenario) from the connection, since the PC didn't have the sort of serial port that would enable it to receive signals directly from the phone line w/o going through the modem.
  You are about as brilliant as the lady I spoke to on that occasion.
31. Re:Memo to investors: by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-06 11:56 · Score: 1
  
  That's the especially baffling thing: theoretically, "XPS" is supposed to come in with the price premium over "Inspiron" that you would expect, but a bit cheaper than "Optiplex"; but Dell's enthusiasm for constantly-changing-but-sometimes-quite-large deals/discount codes/temporary sales/different prices between home and 'small business' stores/etc. actually meant that you could get a given 'XPS' for less than the closest equivalent 'Inspiron' depending on the phase of the moon.
32. Re:Memo to investors: by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-07 07:36 · Score: 1
  
  That's the especially baffling thing: theoretically, "XPS" is supposed to come in with the price premium over "Inspiron" that you would expect, but a bit cheaper than "Optiplex"; but Dell's enthusiasm for constantly-changing-but-sometimes-quite-large deals/discount codes/temporary sales/different prices between home and 'small business' stores/etc. actually meant that you could get a given 'XPS' for less than the closest equivalent 'Inspiron' depending on the phase of the moon.
  I heard you can get $25 off any order over $250 today because it's 4 days past quarter moon. lol
Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:39 · Score: 5, Funny

Give the money back to the shareholders!
1. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by malakai · 2013-02-05 04:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  They are. You are getting all shares cashed in for 13.65 a share.
  
  --
  -Malakai
  A Dragon Lives in my Garage
2. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by microcars · 2013-02-05 05:25 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  OP was a joke, referencing Michael Dell's 1997 comment about how he would fix Apple at the time. His response: "Close it down and give the money back to the shareholders"
  
  --
  I like microcars
3. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by tgd · 2013-02-05 05:41 · Score: 2
  
  OP was a joke, referencing Michael Dell's 1997 comment about how he would fix Apple at the time. His response: "Close it down and give the money back to the shareholders"
  If their stock keeps tanking, that may be a good option in 2014, too ...
4. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by falcon5768 · 2013-02-05 06:04 · Score: 0
  
  you wish. Apple's stock is not going even near their 1997 numbers for a long long time. Get a god damn grip, Apples going to be around for a long while, especially when they are the biggest single share of the mobile market, bigger than even Samsung when you break down the numbers and OS.
  
  --
  "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
5. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by dunkelfalke · 2013-02-05 06:06 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  So was Nokia, not so long ago.
  
  --
  "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
6. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 06:23 · Score: 0
  
  Unless you bought dell shares before 1998 or during the recession(s) you are getting screwed.
7. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:01 · Score: 0
  
  Ah, mindless apple bashing from tgd. Shocking.
8. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by vakuona · 2013-02-05 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  But Nokia didn't have $130bn just lying around. $130bn changes everything.
9. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by ackthpt · 2013-02-05 07:29 · Score: 2
  
  But Nokia didn't have $130bn just lying around. $130bn changes everything.
  Repeat after me: It's all on paper.
  Amazing how little a company is worth when the stock starts sliding.
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
10. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  Bigger than Samsung if you apply a very narrow and specific set of criteria. That's how all Apple fanboys justify Apple's behavior and products.
11. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:52 · Score: 0
  
  No, the $130bn is real. Do you know the difference between retained earnings and market cap?
12. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 08:00 · Score: 0
  
  Pfft once the hyperinflation hits that won't be worth much
13. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by vakuona · 2013-02-05 08:05 · Score: 1
  
  No, it isn't on paper. It's US government bonds (ok so on paper), and short term investments and cash. This is retained earnings we are talking about. (Fun fact, last year Apple made more profits than Nokia has since 2000. There is a possibility that Apple made more profits last year than Nokia has since inception!)
  Basically, Apple only goes under if the US government goes under.
14. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by quacking+duck · 2013-02-05 09:02 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  But Nokia didn't have $130bn just lying around. $130bn changes everything.
  Repeat after me: It's all on paper.
  Amazing how little a company is worth when the stock starts sliding.
  Yes, amazing how little Apple is worth without its stock. Hint: it's about $137 billion, all in the bank (well, various banks around the world).
  The stock value or market cap, which is what you really meant, is $430 billion at time of this writing. Meaning almost 1/3 of the current stock value is backed by actual cash in the bank.
15. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Stan92057 · 2013-02-05 10:24 · Score: 0
  
  Ya and its not the company that looses the money its the real people who paid real money for that paper. And the money people are willing to gamble everything for the chances of getting rich quick.
  
  --
  Jack of all trades,master of none
16. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Hal+XP · 2013-02-05 11:14 · Score: 1
  
  They are. You are getting all shares cashed in for 13.65 a share.
  Heard there was a fall in stock value, so now they're selling for 13.37 a share.
  
  --
  I'm a sci-fi vegan: I don't want the aliens to think we have as much right to live as the fried chickens we eat.
17. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Prof.Phreak · 2013-02-05 14:12 · Score: 0
  
  Meaning almost 1/3 of the current stock value is backed by actual cash in the bank.
  Not sure if you realize this or not, but this is actually a horribly bad thing. A company sitting on a mountain of cash is a dying beast.
  
  --
  "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
18. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by quacking+duck · 2013-02-05 14:49 · Score: 1
  
  An accounting friend said it was a bad thing too... back in 2006 when Apple had about $10 billion in the bank.
  The streak can't go on forever, and certainly Steve Jobs was a major factor, but Apple has defied conventional market wisdom (such as it is) for the last decade. I'm not too worried yet.
19. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 17:29 · Score: 0
  
  Meaning almost 1/3 of the current stock value is backed by actual cash in the bank.
  Not sure if you realize this or not, but this is actually a horribly bad thing. A company sitting on a mountain of cash is a dying beast.
  Don't worry; you're certainly not the first or last to predict the doom of Apple. A great many people before you have looked just as silly.
20. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by rsborg · 2013-02-05 19:07 · Score: 1
  
  Meaning almost 1/3 of the current stock value is backed by actual cash in the bank.
  Not sure if you realize this or not, but this is actually a horribly bad thing. A company sitting on a mountain of cash is a dying beast.
  Romney? Is that you again?
  Look, it's easy to find a revenue-starved "small" $1B company you can leverage and loot, but $137B is a lot even for the biggest corporate raiders.
  That is truly fuck-off money and signs Apple is beholden to none but themselves (and perhaps their customer base who makes the remainder of their stock valuation possible).
  Companies don't go under or get raided just because they have cash, it's because they have cash (i.e., loot) and they are also experiencing a credit squeeze or revenue shortfall. Apple is suffering from neither and hasn't for more than a decade.
  
  --
  Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
21. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by TheRaven64 · 2013-02-05 22:55 · Score: 1
  
  It usually is, yes. Apple paid off its loans as a publicity stunt some years ago, because the company had been heavily in debt when Steve Jobs took over and paying them off was a way of proving that now it could pay them. That said, the extra liquidity has given Apple a huge advantage over the past few years. When it comes to buying components for their latest gadget, their current strategy is to pay, up front, for the factory to be built and then have exclusive access to its output for the first year of operation at a rate that is sufficiently discounted to offset their initial cost. Companies that don't have enough cash to put up a billion or two for a new factory have to buy the remaining production output at a higher cost. As long as Apple has the liquid cash and the sales volumes, they can produce things a lot cheaper than their competitors.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
22. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by tehcyder · 2013-02-05 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  Last time I looked, Apple's iOS had about 20% of the market for mobile phones. Since only Apple make phones running iOS, I suppose they have 20% of the market by manufacturer as well. If this is more than any other single manufacturer fair enough, but they're hardly unassailable.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
23. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by TheRaven64 · 2013-02-05 23:18 · Score: 1
  
  It's nothing to do with corporate raiders, it's a question of efficient use of capital. A healthy company has a buffer reserve so that they can deal with unexpected changes in the market, but beyond that has most of its capital invested in things that grow the business: factories, shops, ships, that kind of thing. If a company has a lot of cash and isn't spending it then it means that management can't think of anything to spend it on that gives a higher return than just leaving it in the bank. With interest rates as low as they are at the moment that's quite worrying for a company like Apple, which historically has made most of its profits by being an early mover in new markets and claiming the most profitable 10-20% of them before they become completely commoditised.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
24. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by orthancstone · 2013-02-06 02:24 · Score: 1
  
  Last time I looked, Apple's iOS had about 20% of the market for mobile phones. Since only Apple make phones running iOS, I suppose they have 20% of the market by manufacturer as well. If this is more than any other single manufacturer fair enough, but they're hardly unassailable.
  Mobile application sales (and transactions) are a much more interesting measure of success, and Apple's doing quite fine in that department.
25. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 04:09 · Score: 0
  
  ... Apple, which historically has made most of its profits by being an early mover in new markets and claiming the most profitable 10-20% of them before they become completely commoditised
  You do realize that it was the existence of Apple's cash reserves that allowed them to consistently do that, right?
26. Re: Give the money back to the shareholders! by Xeranar · 2013-02-06 04:59 · Score: 1
  
  Ugh, no. That is investor BS talk trying to squeeze dividends out. 137 Billion is a great pile of cash to be sitting on. Apple to capitalize a small national bank or a large regional one at this point. I admit that their holdings are excessive for the reasons of R&D or a rainy day fund but it is their's and frankly that huge chunk of change is what is driving a part of their stock value so they have no reason to drop a big part of their evaluation.
27. Re: Give the money back to the shareholders! by Xeranar · 2013-02-06 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  Is it? I wasn't aware that was a poignant factor of discussion. I believe the general understanding is that android has a great deal of free apps that handles the majority of the users needs. Course this ignores the Apple classist argument about wealth, disposable income, status, and the other issues.
  But more to the point, except for the small group of developers who make money from the apps who cares about the revenue?
28. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 05:54 · Score: 0
  
  so not 2014, maybe 2024, as by then the market would have moved to the next big thing, we will all be using implanted AR systems for our main computing activities, and phone calls will be replaced with implant to implant telepathy. Unless of course Tim Cook leaves and Johnny Ives takes the throne. Johnny is a weird hybrid of Designer Jobs, and Engineer Woz, and could bring back the Mojo if Cook starts to go the Balmer route.
  We will see.
29. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by vakuona · 2013-02-06 06:34 · Score: 1
  
  Any company in the world would love to bea a dying beast with $137bn in the bank.
  That kind of money can let a company enter into completely new industries at the stroke of a pen. Apple was able to enter completely new industries and be instantly competitive because of its ginormous cash pile. Economies of scale can be bought in an instant with that sort of cash. Now, $137bn might be too much cash to be holding, but Apple has started paying a dividend, and until Apple stops being profitable, I doubt investors will care too much.
  Apple didn't get to where it is by following conventional wisdom.
30. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by macs4all · 2013-02-06 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  OP was a joke, referencing Michael Dell's 1997 comment about how he would fix Apple at the time. His response: "Close it down and give the money back to the shareholders"
  If their stock keeps tanking, that may be a good option in 2014, too ...
  Oh, yeah; because at $457/share (at the time of this post), AAPL is JUST like DELL, at $13.48/share.
  
  Right.
  
  AAPL didn't "tank". That was a correction. DELL is tanking.
31. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by macs4all · 2013-02-06 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  Pfft once the hyperinflation hits that won't be worth much
  But it will still be worth more than NOT having it.
32. Re:Give the money back to the shareholders! by Archimboldo · 2013-02-06 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  One advantage to being big. On the other hand, I don't know how nimble Apple can be at its current size. With a dictator (Steve Jobs) at the helm, and a small product line, size wasn't too much of a problem. Not sure how things will be now.
near future by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:45 · Score: 3, Insightful

No Linux support at all...
Time to support system 76 with my dollars.
1. Re:near future by realityimpaired · 2013-02-05 05:26 · Score: 1
  
  Which would be nice if System 76 made a 12.1" or 13.3" laptop with an SSD, no optical drive, and a matte finish screen....
2. Re:near future by marsu_k · 2013-02-05 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  ...which they don't. Try this. Granted it doesn't come with Linux preinstalled, but in my experience the only thing that doesn't work out of the box is Optimus (for which there is Bumblebee - a hack, yes, but most of the time discrete graphics is not needed). Not affiliated, just liking mine.
3. Re:near future by Nerdfest · 2013-02-05 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  I just picked up one of their machines ... I'm a very happy camper. The "No Windows Tax" is just icing on the cake.
4. Re:near future by tgd · 2013-02-05 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  No Linux support at all...
  Time to support system 76 with my dollars.
  Don't be a moron. Not only is Microsoft not a controlling investor, they're not an investor at all!
  And, of course, if you want to run Linux, a particularly nice option is the single-click install of Linux in an Azure VM... hosted by Microsoft... supported by Microsoft...
  But, sure, a loan from them means no more Linux from Dell.
5. Re:near future by Grishnakh · 2013-02-05 05:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I thought the "Windows Tax" wasn't really an issue though: people have complained many times before how Dell would offer a PC with Windows and Linux, and the Linux version would cost more, and it turned out the reason was that, even though the Windows license added to the cost, it was more than made up for by the kickbacks they got from all the crapware pre-loaded. Effectively, the crapware helped subsidized the computer. So if you're just going to wipe the HD and install Linux, a computer subsidized by crapware can be a pretty good deal.
6. Re:near future by poity · 2013-02-05 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  It's surprising they don't offer a premium ultraportable. Linux users are known to be willing to pay top dollar (look at humble bundle stats), especially the IT professionals who have money to burn, yet they insist on selling consumer level models.
  
  --
  your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
7. Re:near future by CastrTroy · 2013-02-05 06:04 · Score: 1
  
  Ultraportables require too much customization for the small market that System76 can reach. If you've ever looked at the innards of the Mac Book Air, you'll notice that just about everything is custom, including, and especially, the battery. Larger laptops just use a bunch of standard cells in a custom plastic covering. But you can't do that with ultraportables because the standard cells are too thick. If they could do it, they'd basically be taking a Lenovo ultrabook, and putting Linux and their own badge on it. But then I doubt they'd be able to do so for a better price than what Lenovo can offer for the exact same hardware.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
8. Re:near future by CastrTroy · 2013-02-05 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  Also, at $659 for their cheapest laptop, it sure feels like there's some kind of tax on there. For the same price you could get a much better machine from any of the other guys (HP, Acer, Toshiba, etc.) Plus they have plenty of selection at lower prices if you don't want to spend as much.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
9. Re:near future by WWJohnBrowningDo · 2013-02-05 06:13 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  This must be some bizarro alternate universe, because I'm thinking to myself: "We need to start porting crapware to Linux".
10. Re:near future by witherstaff · 2013-02-05 08:02 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Already been done. It's called gnome 3
11. Re:near future by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 08:08 · Score: 0
  
  Check out the latest Ubuntu.
12. Re:near future by LVSlushdat · 2013-02-05 08:10 · Score: 2
  
  Screw Microsoft and their Azure platform.. I'm working on a project where I'll need a cloud Linux VM. The choice is between an Azure VM, which I signed up for a freeby 90 day eval, and a 1 year freeby AWS tiny instance.. Obviously I was leaning towards AWS, but figured "what the heck, lets see what this Azure platform is all about".. I went ahead and signed up for the 90 day eval.. Set up a CentOS VM, lit it off, planning to load the project code on to, but got buried in honey-doos, and only got back to the VM after about a month, having lost 1/3 of the eval period. After getting most of the honey-doos done, I went back and signed up for an AWS tiny instance, to eval the two side-by-side... A week or so later, still WELL within the 90 days, I get an email from MS telling me I'm getting close to exhausting the resources allocated to the VM and I need to put a credit card on the account to continue.. Mind you, this VM was idle, since I'd yet to get to installing the project I wanted it for... I said "screw MS" and cancelled the account, and went with AWS.. I got a whole year free before I have to start paying for my project...
  
  --
  THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
13. Re:near future by Nerdfest · 2013-02-05 10:01 · Score: 1
  
  Dell had a low-end machine with Ubuntu on it around Christmas for $279. The same machine was $329 with Windows, so I'm not sure that's true any more. While it is handy having a proper Windows licence (I run one in a VM sometimes, though the licence probably doesn't officially allow it). Really, I just like to see a company putting out a laptop specifically for Linux and standing behind it for drivers, updates, etc. I'm willing to pay a little extra to make that statement as well. although their prices are not too far out of line for the specs of the machine. I used to get absolute bottom end laptops that would be okay for a couple of years, and this time I decided to go up-scale a bit. Steam is coming ... time for some Linux games.
14. Re:near future by whoever57 · 2013-02-05 11:38 · Score: 1
  
  Don't be a moron. Not only is Microsoft not a controlling investor, they're not an investor at all!
  
  There are strong connections between the investors in Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
15. Re:near future by vivek7006 · 2013-02-05 11:53 · Score: 1
  
  Hahahahaha
16. Re:near future by Grishnakh · 2013-02-05 12:24 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry, no. Gnome3 wasn't crapware that was ported to Linux from the Windows world, it's crapware made just for Linux.
17. Re:near future by tgd · 2013-02-05 13:20 · Score: 1
  
  Screw Microsoft and their Azure platform.. I'm working on a project where I'll need a cloud Linux VM. The choice is between an Azure VM, which I signed up for a freeby 90 day eval, and a 1 year freeby AWS tiny instance.. Obviously I was leaning towards AWS, but figured "what the heck, lets see what this Azure platform is all about".. I went ahead and signed up for the 90 day eval.. Set up a CentOS VM, lit it off, planning to load the project code on to, but got buried in honey-doos, and only got back to the VM after about a month, having lost 1/3 of the eval period. After getting most of the honey-doos done, I went back and signed up for an AWS tiny instance, to eval the two side-by-side... A week or so later, still WELL within the 90 days, I get an email from MS telling me I'm getting close to exhausting the resources allocated to the VM and I need to put a credit card on the account to continue.. Mind you, this VM was idle, since I'd yet to get to installing the project I wanted it for... I said "screw MS" and cancelled the account, and went with AWS.. I got a whole year free before I have to start paying for my project...
  Wait, you're saying that your inability to read or do basic math is Microsoft's fault? The free Azure trial specifies the number of compute hours it includes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or, frankly, a sixth grader) to divide that number by 24 and see how many days of a VM that covers. (And, by the way, EVERY cloud vendor charges by the hour the VM exists -- they don't care if its idle, suspended, hibernated or anything else.)
18. Re:near future by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 06:24 · Score: 0
  
  Which brings the question, why there doesn't exist a product such as Windows with crapware, as a standalone install CD ?
  Surely, anyone selling this product would stand to make money if what you say is true.
19. Re:near future by unixisc · 2013-02-06 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  That's what all Linux people ought to be doing, instead of bitching that _____ (fill in the company from whom you buy PCs) doesn't support Linux after buying it despite the fact. If they did this, you'd see more companies like System 76 step up and make Linux specific PCs or laptops.
Intelligent by roman_mir · 2013-02-05 04:46 · Score: -1

So they are realising the burden of the SEC regulations and the risk of holding cash reserves rather than their own stock. Their own stock will go up in value relative to the USD because of the inflation, holding cash in a bank (especially USD) is a bad idea the inflation is so bad. Holding to your own stock is a much better deal.
But don't buy government or private bonds, you will get seriously hurt.

--
You can't handle the truth.
1. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:08 · Score: 0
  
  What inflation?
2. Re:Intelligent by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  You know, where the price of goods keeps going up in nominal terms; kind of like how a standard desktop PC used to be priced at $3,000 back in the early nineties and is now within spitting distance of $300.
  Oh, wait, maybe this industry is different.
3. Re:Intelligent by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 05:51 · Score: 2
  
  Cash always returns about zero percent. Inflation today is low – but interest rates on cash are somewhere around .1%. But even during normal times, interest on cash accounts are about the same as inflation. Basically, cash sits on the book with no economic impact.
  The common wisdom is that it’s best to give excess cash back to the shareholders. If the shareholder (owner) wants they can reinvest it in dell – or they can decide what to do with it.
Well... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:47 · Score: 0

What will be the result? Another dead company after they pump and dump it as a public company in a few years? Or a company worth a damm.
Gonna have to make some quality consumer products for that second option...
Smart money is on the first tho.
1. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:56 · Score: 0
  
  What will be the result?
  Their substandard tech support will get even worse. The folks in <insert name of country here> will farm it out to some place lower on the totem pole.
2. Re:Well... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:06 · Score: 0
  
  “I believe this transaction will open an exciting new chapter for Dell, our customers and team members,” Mr. Dell said in a statement.
  
  Specifically, chapter 7. Very exciting!
What would I do? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:49 · Score: -1

I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Good maybe by Dyinobal · 2013-02-05 04:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

Good maybe, they can get back to providing a good service/product for reasonable prices and a modest profit rather than the 100% as much money as possible even at the expense of future profits model that the current corporate culture in the world seems to mandate as the norm.
1. Re:Good maybe by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe they'll have enough money for L3 support staff with basic IT skills again. It's like someone convinced a budget-boss that a "Technical Account Manager" meant someone who knows how to get things done, instead of someone who just licks ass incredibly well.
2. Re:Good maybe by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:15 · Score: 0
  
  Don't underestimate how far a good rimjob will take you in life. You can spend years in college, or just learn to love eatin' ass.
3. Re:Good maybe by Rogerborg · 2013-02-06 00:37 · Score: 1
  
  I'd rather expect them to go hog wild with scorched earth patent lawsuits. Dying dinosaurs do a lot of thrashing around.
  
  --
  If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
So buy Dell shares now? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:53 · Score: 0

So it is currently selling for 13.38 a share. Does this mean we could buy it now and make 27 cents a share when this deal goes through?
1. Re:So buy Dell shares now? by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 05:03 · Score: 2
  
  Yes.
  It won't close for another year, so you could treat that 27 cents as intrest. Also, there is a chance the deal could fall though - and which point the price may well drop.
2. Re:So buy Dell shares now? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:04 · Score: 0
  
  So it is currently selling for 13.38 a share. Does this mean we could buy it now and make 27 cents a share when this deal goes through?
  Yes ... you could earn ~ 2% on the transaction, minus the transaction fees, taxes, etc.
3. Re:So buy Dell shares now? by vlm · 2013-02-05 05:11 · Score: 2
  
  So it is currently selling for 13.38 a share. Does this mean we could buy it now and make 27 cents a share when this deal goes through?
  Yes. There is one tiny little problem. That's about a 2% total rate of return and they're not completing the sale for about a year and a half. And you get to pay commission to buy the stock out of your fabulous profit opportunity. Also you'll get to pay capgains tax on your "winnings" when it goes up 27 cents. There's probably an easier way to get a laughable one percent or so APR return. Assuming all goes well of course, which it probably will. Although most deals have some kind of clause where if something completely nuts happens the deal is off. So (trade?) war with China and the stock drops to $2 and you're out quite a bit of money. Or the private equity firm experiences legal issues preventing the deal from going thru. Or who knows. In other words I would not suggest cashing out the 401K and putting it into Dell stock at this time.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
4. Re:So buy Dell shares now? by vlm · 2013-02-05 05:19 · Score: 1
  
  you could treat that 27 cents as intrest.
  That would be filed on your 1040 as a capital gain BTW... And taxed at capgain rate, long term if you buy now (not advised, just saying)
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
5. Re:So buy Dell shares now? by dorfl68 · 2013-02-05 11:48 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, sort of, explained partially by the time until you actually get the cash. Should have bought 3 months ago and you would have seen a 35% return, which ain't bad
dude you are getting into the private club by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:54 · Score: 0

dude you are getting into the private club
Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by yeshuawatso · 2013-02-05 04:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

Any deal with Microsoft in the title is destined for failure. Just ask Nokia how that's worked out for them so far.
1. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by darjen · 2013-02-05 05:10 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Really? according to that article, Nokia has turned back into a profitable company.
2. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 05:13 · Score: 1
  
  In a 24b deal we are talking about a 2b loan. So, first, it’s small. Second, it’s loan, not equity. So no control.
  (Which I find odd – Why is Microsoft acting like a bank? Maybe if it’s a convertible bond (a bond that can be converted to a pre-set amount of stock) - that would make more sense.)
3. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by NatasRevol · 2013-02-05 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  This is an interesting question.
  Could it be that other banks weren't willing to give Dell reasonable rates due to their business performance?
  No idea, but that seems a reasonable assumption.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
4. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:39 · Score: 0
  
  Profitable but insignifigant and no longer a big player with impact in the market space.
5. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 06:00 · Score: 0
  
  Profitable but insignifigant and no longer a big player with impact in the market space.
  Which they were even before the Microsoft deal, so what's your point?
6. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by DragonWriter · 2013-02-05 07:25 · Score: 2
  
  Second, it’s loan, not equity. So no control.
  
  Holding a loan can give you influence over the lender, even if it doesn't give the kind of voting rights that equity comes with.
  
  Why is Microsoft acting like a bank?
  They aren't. They are acting like a company that has an interest in the deal for market reasons beyond being paid back. If they were acting like a bank (and, therefore, basing their lending decision on Dell's creditworthiness and the overall lending market) rather than an interested market player, there would be no reason for Dell to take a loan from them rather than an actual bank.
7. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 07:25 · Score: 1
  
  I don’t think it’s strictly access to cash.
  There are plenty of banks / hedge funds that could do the loan – even if the debt was classified as speculative / junk.
  If it were access to cash that would mean Microsoft would be taking on the junior risker part of the debt- which is not the role of a company like Microsoft.
  It could be that they are currying favor with Dell by offering cheap loans (i.e. with nothing legally binding) – but I suspect there is a hook in there that we are missing.
8. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:25 · Score: 0
  
  They had their own direction before, now their executives have been taken over by a parasitic CEO from.....Microsoft!
  Self determination is far more profitable than guided obsolescence.
9. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:35 · Score: 0
  
  Of course they have some control. First there is a deal set up beforehand outlining Dell's obligations under the loan, second, they don't get all the money at once, and third, there are terms about how the loan gets paid back. This means that if certain criteria aren't met, the loan could become very expensive to pay back.
  Michael Dell is being something of a sentamental fool here. He should have just cached out his money. Now he's risking his fortune for no real return prospects.
10. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:42 · Score: 1
  
  They had black figures in Q4, somewhere about +800M euro. 200M of those came from selling their main office building, 600M came from the Nokia Siemens division that is fighting with Huawei for second place on the market for base telecommunications equipment (both distanced by Ericsson). Of their mobile result, the part that made money was as always their feature phones, even though even that market share is taking big hits from Samsung.
  Their smart phone adventure has gone from very profitable and market leading by a wide margin a couple of years ago, to be in the order of 1% with billions of euros out the door. And on the plus side, they have up until now received kickbacks in the billion range from Microsoft, for their wager on Windows Phone, that are ending in Q4, and now Nokia is supposed to start paying royalties for Windows Phone to Microsoft.
  The Nokia conglomerate was profitable the last quarter, but the question is how long they can keep pouring money into their smart phone project. Not a lot longer, if their liquidity is to be non-catastrophic in the near future.
11. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 08:27 · Score: 0
  
  You are adorably anachronistic. Please start using "M$" again as well so I can feel like it's 2001 all over again.
12. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by justthinkit · 2013-02-05 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  Any deal?
  
  --
  I come here for the love
13. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 11:18 · Score: 0
  
  You realize Dell is as big as they are today because of Microsoft right? It seems to have worked out really well for them.
14. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by Prof.Phreak · 2013-02-05 14:25 · Score: 1
  
  ...and rate on that loan must be bigger than what they'd expect to make via stock.
  
  --
  "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
15. Re:Nokia welcomes you, Dell! by tehcyder · 2013-02-05 23:23 · Score: 1
  
  They had their own direction before, now their executives have been taken over by a parasitic CEO from.....Microsoft!
  Self determination is far more profitable than guided obsolescence.
  Nokia's direction was a steepening nosedive into irrelevance and bankruptcy. Whatever you may think about Mirosoft, they stopped them from going bust and disappearing entirely. It's hardly MS's fault if they haven''t instantly propelled them back into the "World No. 1" position which their previous management threw away.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Does the company come preloaded with crapware? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:54 · Score: 1

Someone had to ask.
1. Re:Does the company come preloaded with crapware? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 05:50 · Score: 0
  
  Someone had to ask.
  Why do you care? You can't have any part of it! Mwahaha!
  Oh, watch the off-shoring multiply.
Not on the cash by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 04:54 · Score: 2

You may be right on the cost of Sarbanes Oxley compliance but I think your wrong about the cash.
IIRC, over half of the cash is being held overseas from un-repatriated foreign profits. As long as Dells’ overseas subsidiaries hold onto the cash they don’t have to pay corporate tax on it. The second it comes back they do.
1. Re:Not on the cash by roman_mir · 2013-02-05 06:19 · Score: -1
  
  I am talking about inflation of all currencies of-course, but right now USD, UK pound and Japanese Yen are the worst offenders.
  Of-course there is a big difference between Japane and USA. Japanese central bank holds 1.3Trillion reserves in US Treasury bonds and USD, Japanese population holds another 2Trillion, so at least in theory before Japan collapses USA has to collapse, because Japan can call the debt.
  In practice USA can't return any of its debts (see my signature).
  I am talking about the coming bond collapse and USD crisis.
  
  --
  You can't handle the truth.
Could be the best thing... by DigitalSorceress · 2013-02-05 04:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

This could be the best thing for Dell.
I'm no economist, but the limited exposure I've had to public companies is that nowadays, it's all about ONLY the next quarterly report.
The way the stock market is pushing things, you can't actually make good long term decisions for your company because the only thing that matters is short term stuff.
By buying back the stock, they're possibly giving themselves the opportunity to take control back and run the company in the best interests of long-term strategy/goals.
Good Luck Dell

--

The Digital Sorceress
1. Re:Could be the best thing... by alen · 2013-02-05 05:01 · Score: 1
  
  only for the crappy companies with no future like dell
  until a few months ago apple's stock was flying. google is still flying high. amazon is in bubble territory
2. Re:Could be the best thing... by rudy_wayne · 2013-02-05 05:06 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  This could be the best thing for Dell.
  I'm no economist, but the limited exposure I've had to public companies is that nowadays, it's all about ONLY the next quarterly report.
  The way the stock market is pushing things, you can't actually make good long term decisions for your company because the only thing that matters is short term stuff.
  This is true, BUT, in this case Dell will be heavily in debt which negates any benefits of going private. Instead of Wall Street demanding an ever increasing stock price, Dell will be under constant pressure from the people who put up $24 Billion and want to see a return on their investment.
3. Re:Could be the best thing... by Billly+Gates · 2013-02-05 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  only for the crappy companies with no future like dell
  until a few months ago apple's stock was flying. google is still flying high. amazon is in bubble territory
  The reason Apple's stockprice soared was because their magical asset ratios went through the rough as they sat on a pile of cash. Investors only make money if it goes up in price. Not off earnings.
  I think one of the reasons the economy is in the shape it is is businesses simply can not expand and make more money. Because doing so will make Excel lower your share price lower when doing the ratios of assets/debts. Accountants and computer programs determine how to run your company and make critical business decisions. Not the CEO.
  Personally if I were king (notice I did not say president as I would be called a socialist by the lobbyists) I would require shareholders to own their stock for 30 days before they could resell and each company would be forced to pay a dividend equal to the value of the share.
  Then you would not have this silliness. Not every company can generate the revenue like Apple and they could have grown faster if WallStreet didn't force them to horde cash and not invest in themselves so their excel spreadsheets can make them more money.
  
  --
  http://saveie6.com/
4. Re:Could be the best thing... by Billly+Gates · 2013-02-05 05:15 · Score: 1
  
  How much does Dell make in revenues. If they make 9 billion (I made that up as an example) and do a 7 year loan it can easily be doable. If they make 3 billion and already owe 1 billion in debt then that would be a problem.
  
  --
  http://saveie6.com/
5. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:16 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Dell earns $1.2 per share. That's about 10%. Interest rates on debt are not that high and interest payments are tax exempt. So I doubt unless they screw up the business pretty badly they are going to get through just fine.
  Michael Dell and Microsoft are the people putting in most of the money to begin with, and debt holders (banks) cannot put pressure (they are non-voting, by definition, else it would be just preferred stock), so I can't see why this would not work.
  On the other hand Michael Dell wants to make it into a services company, that part I am not so sure about
6. Re:Could be the best thing... by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-02-05 05:17 · Score: 1
  
  Amen to that. In the DotCom era it seemed like the IPO was the goal. Maybe companies will start to see that sometimes running your business the way you see fit is better without a quarterly report monkey sitting on your back. My only concern is I see that Goldman Sachs was in on the deal, so I'm wondering how much blood they drained from Dell on the way out.
  
  --
  I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
7. Re:Could be the best thing... by vlm · 2013-02-05 05:17 · Score: 2
  
  amazon is in bubble territory
  Yeah man Borders is gonna crush them next quarter. Err. I mean Waldenbooks is gonna crush AMZN. Um... Ah yes B. Dalton will get their customers... whoops
  Seriously other than B+N are there any "large" booksellers left?
  Now I do understand that they, as the main/only player, can crash the whole market, think of Atari in the early 80s. Makes you wonder what'll happen to retail when Walmart bites the dust after destroying all the locals. That would be exciting to watch.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
8. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:22 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know if history or economics backs this up, but I too hope going private will help Dell improve. (I don't know if moves like this ever work, or make any significant changes)
  Indeed companies that go public seem to gradually get worse and worse, providing less value for the customer, treating their employees worse, abusing tax loopholes and other general accounting tomfoolery. It all goes to shit in the name of "shareholder value"
  And who are the shareholders? Bad people, the best I can work out. Large financial firms that buy and sell stock in complex, indecipherable financial schemes. Any one holding company could own a significant chunk of any number of large companies.. For a few weeks or months, then they'll own a different set all together. So, basically there is no accountability and no face to any of it.
  So when a company says "shareholders" they really mean wallstreet, as a whole. Really, companies just do what a whole bunch of wall street analysts say they should do. Which means we have one of the most corrupt and greedy institutions known to man telling every public company how to run their business.
  I've come to believe that the financial sector does a lot more harm than good. That it's basically and institution for leeching wealth from citizens and government and private enterprise alike. Everything it touches becomes worse and less useful. The companies that do well today are powerful and successful and smart enough to tell wall street to go fuck themselves. (Apple, Google come to mind)
9. Re:Could be the best thing... by vlm · 2013-02-05 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  each company would be forced to pay a dividend equal to the value of the share.
  I assume you mean price, not book value. Book value would be kinda harsh aka corporate death penalty with some weird tax consequences.
  Personally I mostly dislike dividends for long term speculation. I wanna decide when I pay that tax, not some corporate dweeb deciding for me. Also if I thought they could do something useful with 12 of my dollars, that would seem to be a vote of confidence they should keep their measly 10 cent dividend and do something useful with that 10 cents too...
  I do have a handful of blue chip utility stocks that I bought knowing they kick out a certain dividend like clockwork, at least until people stop using electricity LOL. My eventual goal is to use my electric utility dividend checks to pay my electric bill. It only takes $30K or so of stock which is pretty much what I've got. Fundamentally this is a problem with investing in solar panels... I could take on all the complication and effort and risk to fall off the grid for 20 years, or I could pay the same amount for stock and never pay a bill again without having to lift a physical finger and relatively low risk... Hmm.
  I think forcing dividend policy changes on everyone else would cause massive unnecessary turmoil in the market. Pretty much any time you change dividend policy you'll automatically be pissing people off aka lowering your stock price, so the only way you'd get corps to intentionally tank their price would be by passing a law that they have to.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
10. Re:Could be the best thing... by LordNimon · 2013-02-05 05:30 · Score: 2
  
  This buyout is almost identical to what Freescale went through a few years ago. Almost the same amount ($17B), and the proponents are saying the same exact things (able to focus on the longer term because they won't need to worry about quarter-to-quarter earnings, bla bla).
  It was a disaster for Freescale. They're still trying to dig themselves out of a mountain of debt, and they've been struggling the whole time. Freescale has had significant layoffs, and it's so dismal there that they have a major attrition problem now.
  
  --
  And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
  To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
11. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:31 · Score: 0
  
  Pay back the loan and they go away. Wall Street doesn't (unless you kick them to the curb as Dell is doing).
12. Re:Could be the best thing... by korgitser · 2013-02-05 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  I'm no computer historian, but I cannot remember any company that has survived for long dealing intimately with Microsoft. Except IBM, and that was a really close shave.
  
  --
  FCKGW 09F9 42
13. Re:Could be the best thing... by Bill_the_Engineer · 2013-02-05 05:32 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Funny that you mention Walmart (not that I personally like Walmart).
  I think Amazon has a lot to fear from Walmart. Walmart adapts well and I see them competing directly with Amazon online in the near future. Barnes and Noble is doing quite well as a book store which may insulate them from the impending Amazon vs. Walmart price war on consumer goods and electronics.
  
  --
  These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
14. Re:Could be the best thing... by NatasRevol · 2013-02-05 05:33 · Score: 2
  
  Apple was constrained on most of their products last quarter, which lead to their 'poor' 20% revenue growth (for a >$200B revenue company!)
  It's Wall Street who is essentially devaluing AAPL with a low PE.
  If AAPL had a PE the same that AT&T did (which grows much slower, but a bigger dividend and much smaller earnings) then AAPL's price would be around $1250.
  Which shows how Wall Street actually punishes AAPL for not playing the analyst game.
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
15. Re:Could be the best thing... by nabsltd · 2013-02-05 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  amazon is in bubble territory
  Seriously other than B+N are there any "large" booksellers left?
  Although I agree that Amazon isn't anywhere near a problem, I suspect that at this point, books are less than 10% of their sales (in terms of dollars).
16. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:36 · Score: 0
  
  debt holders (banks) cannot put pressure
  
  I can only guess that you've never been in debt.
  
  (they are non-voting, by definition, else it would be just preferred stock)
  Even preferred stock holders don't get paid if there aren't any profits. Debt holders legally must be paid either way and if you can't afford it then you lose your company. That's pressure.
17. Re:Could be the best thing... by Billly+Gates · 2013-02-05 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  I was not thinking of the tax implications. That would need to be fixed.
  Historically stocks were ways to gain long term success by taking a piece of the profit and as the company grew so did your payments. This flipping with HFT supercomputers, loading a company with debt to inflate its assets, and other tricks are really harmful long term for investors (real people like you and not bankers) and economic growth.
  It makes sense if you own a business to reinvest your capital for expansion for long term growth. You simply can not do that. THe fact that Robert Nardelli was fired after setting huge profits and restructuring for long term growth is just one example. Home Depots stock price did skyrocket up after he was fired but it was after all the structural changes. Wall Steet didn't have patience for it and fired him because they only care about quarterly and with flash trading every millisecond of performance. Basically a few guys with clipboards with accounting degrees canned him because the share price didn't move even though sales doubled!
  He invested too much money making Home Depot successful.
  
  --
  http://saveie6.com/
18. Re:Could be the best thing... by Alomex · 2013-02-05 05:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This is true, BUT, in this case Dell will be heavily in debt which negates any benefits of going private.
  
  Not really. Most people who finance private takeovers have a much larger time span in mind. While the stock market cares about the next quarter, a typical private investment fund like Onex, Cerberus or even Berkshire-Hathaway (when acting as a lender) has a time span of 5-10 years in mind. As well they usually the have skin in the game, i.e. they just don't issue debt. They actually own part of the company or have warrants for shares.
19. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 06:28 · Score: 0
  
  Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell
  
  2012: 63b revenue
  2012: 3.5b net profit
20. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 07:02 · Score: 0
  
  Right now, Walmart is choking it with their 'site-to-store'. Horribly mismanaged; huge implementation issues.
  They could fix it. They also could have lost their former magic touch for such things.
21. Re:Could be the best thing... by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 07:10 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  First, your premise is wrong. Companies are judged on the future cash they will return to their shareholders – which does factor in growth. Generally speaking most financial analyst look out 10 years. When then do quarterly reports matter so much? Think of running a company as running a marathon. At the beginning of the race you predict the company will run a 6 minute mile. The quarterly results say something different. Is this a temporary result (head winds?), something natural (running uphill?) or does it reflect some fundamental change?
  Now, the value of a company that will grow 8% a year for the next 10 years is very different then 12% growth. And some will mock people trying to model something 10 years out – just know that financial analyst know the shortcomings of their model.
  Which takes us to Dell. Right now Dell is a fairly boring company – and I would argue that a lot of value investors have invested in the company for that reason. Michael wants to take the company in a different direction. Instead of laying out a 10 year game plan to the investors - which is going to change every 6 months – he is going to take the company private.
  As to your post specifically, you have an internal contradiction that I am going to point out. You say that companies are loathed to invest in long term risky ventures to create growth. The answer is to force companies to pay dividends based on sized. So, a company that is cash poor comes up with a brilliant idea that will pay out in the future. The value of the company goes up in value – along with their shares. The company must now pay out dividends with cash they don’t have. Something like this would actually discourage the growth you are looking for.
22. Re:Could be the best thing... by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 07:31 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah man Borders is gonna crush them next quarter
  You can have a viable company and be in bubble range – no inherent contradiction.
  Take a look at the house across the street – before the bubble it was worth 200k – now it’s worth less – but it still has value.
  AMZN is currently at $260 – maybe as a ongoing company it’s only worth $130 with the other $130 based on hopes and dreams of continued growth.
23. Re:Could be the best thing... by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  Physical Media (Books, DVDs, CDs) account for slightly less then 1/3 of their sales. (31%)
24. Re:Could be the best thing... by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  There is one important difference. Freescale was a small fish in a big pond. There were not the biggest nor most efficient in the market. They were fighting a rear guard action. Dell is a big fish in a big pond. Mind you – with other big competitors in a hyper completive environment.
25. Re:Could be the best thing... by alexander_686 · 2013-02-05 08:05 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  in this case Dell will be heavily in debt which negates any benefits of going private.p>
  
  The leverage ratio of 4 to 1 (25% equity, 75% debt) is modest. Dell’s earnings are large and stable (though declining) are more than adequate to support the debt. Plus Dell has 11 billion in their savings account, which could be used to pay down the debt.
  Is Dell cranking up the risk? Yes. Into nose-bleed levels? Not even remotely.
26. Re:Could be the best thing... by Jeng · 2013-02-05 08:20 · Score: 2
  
  And who are the shareholders? Bad people, the best I can work out. Large financial firms that buy and sell stock in complex, indecipherable financial schemes. Any one holding company could own a significant chunk of any number of large companies
  I know that some of my 401k is in Dell stock, from back when I worked for them.
  
  So when a company says "shareholders" they really mean wallstreet, as a whole. Really, companies just do what a whole bunch of wall street analysts say they should do. Which means we have one of the most corrupt and greedy institutions known to man telling every public company how to run their business.
  
  Correct, even though one of my 401k's holds Dell stock I personally have absolutely no input since I am not "shareholder". These big faceless wall street organizations are mainly funded by the everyday workers 401k.
  Looks like there is currently around $3.3 Trillion dollars in 401k investments.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/retirementspecial/should-the-401-k-be-reformed-or-replaced.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
27. Re:Could be the best thing... by jbengt · 2013-02-05 09:08 · Score: 1
  
  THe[sic] fact that Robert Nardelli was fired [wikipedia.org] after setting huge profits and restructuring for long term growth is just one example. . . . Wall Steet didn't have patience for it and fired him because they only care about quarterly and with flash trading every millisecond of performance. Basically a few guys with clipboards with accounting degrees canned him because the share price didn't move even though sales doubled!
  Your own link seems to contradict that:
  
  During Nardelli's tenure, Home Depot stock was essentially steady while competitor Lowe's stock doubled, which along with his $240 million compensation eventually earned the ire of investors.[2] His blunt, critical and autocratic management style turned off employees and the public. Nardelli was notably criticized for cutting back on knowledgeable full-time employees with experience in the trades and replacing them with part-time help with little relevant experience.[3] This move reduced costs, but hurt customer service at a time when Lowe's was making inroads nationwide.
28. Re:Could be the best thing... by jbengt · 2013-02-05 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  . . . some will mock people trying to model something 10 years out . .
  
  I will mock people trying to model something 5 years out, and often even for fewer years than that. I've done it myself (usually for present value on various building system choices), and read reports by others doing it. I note that forecasts rely on all sorts of assumptions that are far from knowable, and parameters can often be manipulated to get the result someone wants.
29. Re:Could be the best thing... by drinkypoo · 2013-02-05 12:49 · Score: 1
  
  I think Amazon has a lot to fear from Walmart. Walmart adapts well and I see them competing directly with Amazon online in the near future.
  I don't. Wal-mart sees themselves as guardians of morality. That shit will fly in retail but not on the internet.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
30. Re:Could be the best thing... by mattack2 · 2013-02-05 14:25 · Score: 1
  
  Fundamentally this is a problem with investing in solar panels... I could take on all the complication and effort and risk to fall off the grid for 20 years, or I could pay the same amount for stock and never pay a bill again without having to lift a physical finger and relatively low risk... Hmm.
  You don't need to get off the grid if you get solar panels. Getting solar panels to make your overall usage over a year be zero is "good enough".. and you then have the reliability of the grid in case you need it/are not generating enough yourself.
  Plus, you would generate the most expensive electricity -- on hot sunny days in the summer when others are using A/C.
31. Re:Could be the best thing... by tehcyder · 2013-02-05 23:31 · Score: 1
  
  If companies had to pay out all their profits as dividends, that would also stop them from growing, unless they got their working capital from bank or other loans.
  If you made them pay out a certain percentage as dividends, you're just fiddling around for no reason, the various asset ratios would simply be adjusted by analysts.
  If you forced investors to keep shares for a certain period of time, you might as well abandon the idea of a stock market altogether, which may be a good idea, but is not what you appear to be thinking of.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
32. Re:Could be the best thing... by tehcyder · 2013-02-05 23:42 · Score: 1
  
  . . . some will mock people trying to model something 10 years out . .
  I will mock people trying to model something 5 years out, and often even for fewer years than that. I've done it myself (usually for present value on various building system choices), and read reports by others doing it. I note that forecasts rely on all sorts of assumptions that are far from knowable, and parameters can often be manipulated to get the result someone wants.
  It's hardly a shock to acknowledge that forecasts are not 100% reliable. That doesn't mean that they're worthless.
  There could be a meteor that destroys the Cupertino (or the Earth) next year; NK might nuke Apple's factories in China; Steve Jobs might rise from the grave and release a handheld Faster Than Light personal transporter. Many things might make Apple stock suddenly more or more valuable. That doesn't mean you say "well, our forecast can only be 99.9999999999997% accurate so we won't bother and just make up a number by sticking our finger in the air".
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
33. Re:Could be the best thing... by tehcyder · 2013-02-05 23:59 · Score: 1
  
  In the DotCom era it seemed like the IPO was the goal.
  That's because most internet entrepreneurs (then and now) have no real interest in actually running a company in the long term. They want to get highly paid for their clever idea and go off and create something else shiny. There is no real connection between having one or two good business ideas and being interested in spending the next forty years going to strategy meetings and playing the PR game with your investors.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
34. Re:Could be the best thing... by swalve · 2013-02-06 00:55 · Score: 1
  
  The IPO was the goal because that's the business startups were in. Convince investors and employees to work for equity, and when the product gets successful, they sell out and profit.
  
  Companies routinely buy and sell their own stock. It's another way to make money. If they have a bad quarter and the stock drops because the fickle day traders get spooked, they can buy their own stock cheap because they know they have better quarters in the pipeline. Their large/long term investors appreciate this because it props up the stock price, and the company profits when they have their next good quarter and can sell off the stock at a profit. In this case, Dell just decided to go all in on such a trade. In a few years, they might do another IPO and get $25 a share, doubling their money.
35. Re:Could be the best thing... by swalve · 2013-02-06 00:59 · Score: 1
  
  When they say "shareholders", they really mean the board of directors. There are also different classes of stock that have different voting rights. Depending on how it is set up, a minority of owners (as a percentage of market cap) can have a majority of voting power. You buy the stock because you want to ride the coattails of their good decisions, not because you want a say in how the company runs.
36. Re:Could be the best thing... by Bill_the_Engineer · 2013-02-06 02:38 · Score: 1
  
  I don't. Wal-mart sees themselves as guardians of morality. That shit will fly in retail but not on the internet.
  Don't be silly. In the end all the consumer cares about is price. Walmart has proven that many times.
  Choice between locally made goods vs. cheaper Chinese made goods? Consumer chooses cheaper Chinese made goods.
  Choice between well manufactured vs. cheap plastic knockoff? Consumer chooses cheap knockoff.
  Choice between a grocery store that has a variety of products or a "superstore" stocked with only groceries shown to sell well in "value" sizes and prepackaged cheap meat from a meat plant? Consumer will choose the cheaper superstore.
  Choice between a record store with large selection of albums regardless of explicitness or a "superstore" with only popular albums in radio edit editions at a cheaper price? Consumer will choose the cheaper superstore.
  
  --
  These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
37. Re:Could be the best thing... by vlm · 2013-02-06 02:55 · Score: 1
  
  True, although I was thinking more of bubble as in massive overcapacity/overbuilding rather than purely stock price.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
38. Re:Could be the best thing... by drinkypoo · 2013-02-06 04:03 · Score: 1
  
  I don't. Wal-mart sees themselves as guardians of morality. That shit will fly in retail but not on the internet.
  Don't be silly. In the end all the consumer cares about is price. Walmart has proven that many times.
  
  Actually, the customer cares very much about being able to get the product they want, which is probably the reason that Wal-Mart hasn't put every other music store out of business. They only carry a sanitized subset of music.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
39. Re:Could be the best thing... by nabsltd · 2013-02-06 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  Physical Media (Books, DVDs, CDs) account for slightly less then 1/3 of their sales. (31%)
  That sounds about right, with books being the lowest dollar total by quite a bit. It's pretty easy to spend $100 on one DVD or CD "item" (box sets), but the books they sell the most of are basically all under $30.
  Basically, if some other store (online or brick and mortar) came up with a way to take away all book sales from Amazon, it would hurt them, but they'd still survive quite nicely. Since that would never happen, even a huge resurgence by Barnes & Noble wouldn't be a blip on Amazon's radar.
40. Re:Could be the best thing... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 05:56 · Score: 0
  
  You may want to let GE know about planning 10 years out. Obviously not every company plans this far out. I'd argue if insiders (executives that work for the company), who actually own large share of the company (have skin in the game) are more inclined to build a longer lasting company. A CEO who does not own shares is more than likely their to loot the company based on quarterly reports to pay themselves a nice bonus.
  So I disagree with your assessment (because you are generalizing and assuming all public execs are good stewards to their company), and I can pull numerous cases to prove my point (basically any company that needed a bailout).
41. Re:Could be the best thing... by thebigmacd · 2013-02-08 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  Nardelli then went to Cerberus where he sucked the rest of the life (whatever was left after Daimler had its turn) out of Chrysler.
Substitute the players for a history lesson by Electrawn · 2013-02-05 04:58 · Score: 2

Substitute Michael Dell for Sam Zell, and Dell Company for Tribune Company. Here lies the future...
Never trust guys with names that end in 'ell'
1. Re:Substitute the players for a history lesson by Prof.Phreak · 2013-02-05 14:34 · Score: 1
  
  Never trust guys with names that end in 'ell' ...or start with.
  
  --
  "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
2. Re:Substitute the players for a history lesson by swalve · 2013-02-06 01:06 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure Zell's buyout was more heavily leveraged, and the newspaper business was and is in a different place than the computer business.
Prediction by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 04:58 · Score: 0

I Anonymous Coward predict that the consumer division will be sold to lenovo within 2 years. lenovo will drop desktops and focus on tablets etc.
Dell? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:02 · Score: -1

Dell? I didn't even realize they were still in business .. last time I tried to order something the process was so unbelievably frustrating and complex we switched entirely to HP.
1. Re:Dell? by Attila+Dimedici · 2013-02-05 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  You switched to HP because Dell's order process was so frustrating and complex? Isn't that like switching to Chrysler because you thinks GM's "finish" quality looks cheap?
  
  --
  The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
2. Re:Dell? by drinkypoo · 2013-02-05 12:52 · Score: 0
  
  You switched to HP because Dell's order process was so frustrating and complex? Isn't that like switching to Chrysler because you thinks GM's "finish" quality looks cheap?
  It's more like switching to Ford because you're concerned with GM's design issues.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
3. Re:Dell? by Attila+Dimedici · 2013-02-05 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  No, I stand by my original comparison. I find the "fit and finish" of Chrysler products to be extremely cheap looking. I find the order process to place an order from HP to be extremely byzantine, generally I give up before I figure out whether they even offer the configuration I am looking for.
  
  --
  The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
4. Re:Dell? by drinkypoo · 2013-02-05 14:18 · Score: 0
  
  I stand by my original comparison. I find the "fit and finish" of Chrysler products to be extremely cheap looking.
  All US automakers' fit and finish is beyond poor.
  
  I find the order process to place an order from HP to be extremely byzantine, generally I give up before I figure out whether they even offer the configuration I am looking for.
  Yeah, I stand by my comparison.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Dell who? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:11 · Score: 0

Haven't ordered Dell machines for over 5 years now. HP gets all of our business.
1. Re:Dell who? by poofmeisterp · 2013-02-06 05:51 · Score: 1
  
  Haven't ordered Dell machines for over 5 years now. HP gets all of our business.
  How's that goin' for ya?
Canonical + Dell stupid... now Microsoft owns them by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 05:12 · Score: 0

While I didn't see this coming I knew Canonical's move with Dell was stupid. Dell is already too aligned with Microsoft and is only taking advantage of the situation for public relations reasons. Canonical would be better off teaming up with System76 or better yet ThinkPenguin. Companies who have an interest in the GNU/Linux market succeeding. Or dare I say start there own operations.
"I'm no economist, but" by Dystopian+Rebel · 2013-02-05 05:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

> I'm no economist, but
That's ok, they don't know what they're talking about either.

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Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
Dell buying himself by inode_buddha · 2013-02-05 05:14 · Score: 5, Funny

Dude, if you keep buying yourself you're gonna go BLIND!

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C|N>K
Big gamble... by erp_consultant · 2013-02-05 05:45 · Score: 3, Insightful

Dell - the company and the person - are taking a very big gamble here. The company has been trying, mostly unsuccessfully, for the past several years to get a foothold in the service business. By most measures they have not done very well. Part of that probably stems from their terrible reputation in PC support in the consumer market. Perhaps they feel shackled by the PC business and quarterly reports and Sarbanes-Oxley, etc. And those are valid concerns.
But...Michael Dell is still going to be in charge. And they are going to have a lot of debt. And PC sales still make up a majority of their profits. In the short term it will probably mean lots of layoffs...particularly for people in the non-service sector of the company.
1. Re:Big gamble... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 08:48 · Score: 0
  
  They need to drop the consumer division completely, I have had people ask if they should buy some dell from an advert/best buy and I tell them to never touch it, Unless it is in the business line. I only recommend the Optiplex/Lattitude but they are not as cheap as the consumer models (there is a reason they are cheap anyway)
  Toshiba on the other hand seems to have great consumer models (they attempt the business/enterprise market) even have way less bloatware (only one AV program installed)
  There are different companies for difference needs, At work (I'm network/systems admin) We only have Dell, HP, IBM, and Cisco to get for hardware (server/desktop), I'm not sure IBM still sells them, Cisco is god-awfully expensive (4-8x the price of our dells with less features), and HP requires a Credit-Card ($80 to call them) to just get a damn price quote (our org. does not allow CCs) so we only have Dell to pick from at the moment and I'm still trying to find out who the IBM rep is for our area and if they even still sell them. No way in hell iIm getting Cisco servers, I draw the line at switches/routers and maybe firewalls/vpns and even that line may start to move with some of the new router license ($1500 for a "Data Routing Enabled" license, It's a fucking router that's what it's for/does, this was added to a 3945 with exact specs of a previous purchase that did not require it but does now due to "licensing changes/enhancements" BS)
  Dell provides the best price-point vs features and deals with our antiquated ways of billing policies (a faxed PO only)
  We are looking at IBM simply because despite the fact that it's the same damn intel hardware running vsphere Cisco won't support CCM (cisco call manager) on Dell hardware, only Cisco, HP, and IBM are supported (guess dell didn't kiss something right with them)
2. Re:Big gamble... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 11:19 · Score: 0
  
  I only recommend the Optiplex/Lattitude but they are not as cheap as the consumer models (there is a reason they are cheap anyway)
  I have a Latitude at work. It's a piece of shit. It's heavy, oversized, has a terrible screen and trackpad, runs super hot, and has bad battery life without the giant extended battery pack. Oh, and when it wakes from sleep it frequently forgets how to turn on its display, which I usually have to fix by force-rebooting it. You shouldn't be recommending them either, IMO.
3. Re:Big gamble... by swalve · 2013-02-06 01:13 · Score: 1
  
  That's the opposite of my experience. I own two Latitudes, and they have been great for the most part. One is nearly 10 years old and still performs admirably. Of all the machines I've seen on the road, the Dells are the ones that can take a beating.
4. Re:Big gamble... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 02:48 · Score: 0
  
  Actually their terrible PC support reputation is probably in part exactly what this is about.
  Prior to outsourcing to India their support was actually really top notch, you got through to quality staff whether business or consumer who could think for themselves and knew their stuff.
  Their outsourcing approach was entirely a stock market and shareholder led decision, this takeover is precisely about eliminating that kind of influence from the business as it's what killed it. For some time Dell had almost a boutique reputation in terms of the quality of it's servers, laptops and support dating many years back, but they pursued a race to the bottom to increase profit margins by cutting costs and in the end cut away everything that separated them from cheap Asian manufacturers.
  They could've been the Apple of the PC market, instead they became another run of the mill no one cares PC vendor.
  So I think they're doing exactly the right thing, the business was much better off before shareholder influence really started to eat away at it's differentiating values in the last decade. I've never really been the biggest fan of Michael Dell, but I believe he knows what used to make his firms computers stand out, something the shareholders absolutely never did - end to end quality.
dell and investors? by nimbius · 2013-02-05 05:59 · Score: 2

anyone think microsoft is taking a step to owning a hardware platform? uefi + comfortable share in a computer manufacturer theyve had lock-in status with for decades anyhow. All thats left is to dab a bit of solder on those CPU pins and theyre apple in a suit.

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Good people go to bed earlier.
1. Re:dell and investors? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 08:01 · Score: 0
  
  Dude, slashdot, you are stating the obvious... :)
2. Re:dell and investors? by Joehonkie · 2013-02-05 08:05 · Score: 2
  
  So add a turtleneck and they just become Apple?
3. Re:dell and investors? by greg1104 · 2013-02-05 11:47 · Score: 2
  
  At best they're Apple circa 2001, before the iPod. That's not a happy place. Dell already tried a music player in 2003 and it didn't go anywhere. Dell has been circling the drain since the .com crash, and its competitors have just been getting leaner and stronger the whole time.
fiscal 2013 third quarter??? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 06:12 · Score: 0

How is Dell already reporting is 2013 third quarter? Exactly what calendar dates are covered by that quarter?
1. Re:fiscal 2013 third quarter??? by slew · 2013-02-05 07:33 · Score: 1
  
  How is Dell already reporting is 2013 third quarter? Exactly what calendar dates are covered by that quarter?
  In the US, large corporation are allowed to define their own fiscal "year" for financial reporting as long as it is constitent with the rules (basically it must be 52-53 weeks long and close at the end of a month or a day of the week). Dell uses a fiscal year that ends on the friday nearest to january 31st. Often corporations choose fiscal years to match with other similar companies, or to smooth out revenue reporting (e.g., say Q3 captures all of the christmas revenue, minus the returns). The number is set by the year of the 4th quarter.
  For example, the US government uses the following fiscal year for FY2013
  1st quarter: 1 October 2012 – 31 December 2012
  2nd quarter: 1 January 2013 – 31 March 2013
  3rd quarter: 1 April 2013 – 30 June 2013
  4th quarter: 1 July 2013 – 30 September 2013
2. Re: fiscal 2013 third quarter??? by azulcactus · 2013-02-05 08:17 · Score: 1
  
  Dell's fiscal year runs feb to jan and is 11 months ahead of calendar year by label. Last week it just finished FY13 and it is now in Q1FY14.
3. Re:fiscal 2013 third quarter??? by swalve · 2013-02-06 01:17 · Score: 1
  
  By comparison, the company I work for still runs calendar fiscal years, and it's a giant pain in the ass to get all of the auditing and reporting done in late December when nobody wants to do any work. It happens to work out on paper, however, because that's when our volume is lowest. A company that deals in retail and depends on Christmas sales, however, is still licking its wounds from the Christmas rush, and only slows down in Jan or Feb. So it makes sense to make that the end of the fiscal year.
4. Re: fiscal 2013 third quarter??? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 12:27 · Score: 0
  
  Thank you for that clarification!
Smart move by thetoadwarrior · 2013-02-05 06:26 · Score: 2

The stock market seems to be full of dick heads and no talent people posing as analysts.
1. Re:Smart move by GaspodeTheWonderDog · 2013-02-05 06:50 · Score: 2
  
  And this deviates from any other situation where people are involved how...
  
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  This space for sale
a true "Microsoft Computer"? by v1 · 2013-02-05 06:34 · Score: 1

MS has a game console and a phone. Maybe now they are going to have their own actual consumer computer? Bet the other hardware retailers are gonna just love that...

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I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
ignorant question by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 06:47 · Score: 0

Couldn't they just take 1/8 of the 24billion and start a new (private) company that competes with Dell for much less?
Silver Lake equity by WrecklessSandwich · 2013-02-05 07:02 · Score: 1

Dudes, you're getting a Dell (Inc)!
obligatory by jason777 · 2013-02-05 07:03 · Score: 1

Dude, You're getting Dell!
Sure, that is easy by SmallFurryCreature · 2013-02-05 07:30 · Score: 5, Funny

Nokia has stopped with R&D, fired loads of staff and outsourced its production to cheap countries.
Its strengths were its serious R&D, the loyalty of its staff and its Scandinavian build quality.
You can ALWAYS turn a profit by slaughtering yourself, organs sell for a lot, just sell them off and you will be RICH! And dead. But RICH!

--

MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
1. Re:Sure, that is easy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-06 04:15 · Score: 0
  
  Game's over, losers! I have all the money. Compare your lives to mine, and then kill yourselves!
  - Bender
I'm done with them by kannibal_klown · 2013-02-05 07:42 · Score: 1

Not to flame, but I'm done with them.
When it comes to big-box, I've been a big + trusted fan of Dell over the decades. They weren't bullet proof, but they were fairly solid. Unfortunately, my last 3 purchases from them have been... well... quite bad. And by bad, I don't mean "the drivers on their support page stunk" but "their choosing of custom hardware has stunk"
My big Dell tower: had a usb / SD module at the top that was shorting out. Replaced it, still shorting out. I didn't even have to get to Windows to have problems with it. I remove it, it's fine. OK, so no big deal... it was the equivalent of the appendix. The machine went more-or-less fine without it, though it took me a while to trace it down to that part. That part was annoying: as it was the last thing I thought of checking after video card, ram, hard drive, etc.
My next purchase was a laptop. Now here I wasn't going to fault them THAT much because it was a cheap cheap laptop. So this one I kind of blame on myself for buying garbage.
Now... recently, I bought an Alienware machine. It was great in concept: the X51 is a gaming machine. Not bleeding edge, but solid, in the form factor of an XBox. I figured: great, a solid development machine that can my a multimedia pc under my TV when it ages out. Unfortunately they included a custom-built lower-voltage nVidia 660 GTX that had a slew of problems that they're now trying to deny. At first the support guys stickied the post and were actively working with customers to find the cause of the issues. Once found, support unsticky-ed the post and started pushing it down by replying to other posts for no reason (pushing it onto 2nd/3rd page).
So, I'm done with them. Even if just anecdotal... 3 times in a row is enough to make me look elsewhere.
1. Re:I'm done with them by Jeng · 2013-02-05 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  Whenever possible, build your own, you'll be happier in the long term.
  There are of course downsides, my last build I had to send back the powersupply because it would only work for a few minutes (corsair 750HX), and the processor (amd 8 core) because it wouldn't pass stability tests.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
2. Re:I'm done with them by kannibal_klown · 2013-02-06 01:49 · Score: 1
  
  Yeh, I used to do that back in college. But now I don't have the patience for it... partially because I now want a smaller box (not puny, but smaller) and I hate working in those little things with these huge hands. I make enough now that if the aggravation factor is too high, I'd rather just buy something off the shelf.
  That being said, since my "big box" strategy has failed these last 3 times I might have to return to that. At least I'll know what I'm getting and can scrutinize each piece via forums/reviews before buying it.
where are you looking? by Chirs · 2013-02-05 07:47 · Score: 1

Currently at dell.com I see several machines for $369.
Now under new mis-management by ISoldat53 · 2013-02-05 08:41 · Score: 1

Don't expect much if the keep the same clown car full of managers they have now.
Not sure about some negative comments about Dell by whitroth · 2013-02-05 09:02 · Score: 1

Their tech support is really good* - they pay attention to who their customers are. And even lately, when q/a seems to be down a bit, they're still good.
Most of you, you really want self-abuse, call Sun/Oracle "tech support". Maybe you'll get the engineer in Chile, like I did. Or the support for daytime by an engineer who *only* worked third shift.
As it is, their linux support's excellent, at least now.
mark
Wall Street Failure by skaag · 2013-02-05 09:03 · Score: 1

Good for Dell. Bad for Wall Street. By not looking beyond their noses, and caring only for short term bottom line, the Wall Street culture is going to either destroy companies by forcing them to focus on profits rather that quality, or make them run away and go private, like Dell is doing right now.

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All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...
1. Re:Wall Street Failure by snadrus · 2013-02-05 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you. That's exactly what I see too. I'm hoping for the beginning of the end for Wall St.
  Long-term thinking is good for the company & its employees. Privatization ends the race-to-the-bottom talent drain/churn.
  The current system has survived due to humanity's high pain tolerance (for low quality, wages, etc), but the next generation of Americans know how nice employees in (some) other countries are treated. There's fairly high animosity already among them when it comes to working for corporations when they've seen SOPA and know where corruption money comes from.
  
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  Science & open-source build trust from peer review. Learn systems you can trust.
2. Re:Wall Street Failure by skaag · 2013-02-05 10:59 · Score: 1
  
  I totally agree with you. And I think by the way that the disease starts at a much earlier stage - at the Venture Capital stage! You see, VC's do the same thing to high-tech ventures in the early stages of the company, as Wall Street does to large corporations at their later stages. This is why I have always favored Angel investments to VC's (or better yet, if you have the money to bootstrap it, just use your own money).
  I think a small company should be able to create a solid, working prototype of their product, and bring it to the stage where the product can start selling and making money, without the help of a VC. That's also why I really like the Kickstarter/Indiegogo model, among other things because it's kicking VC's in the butt and showing them how flawed their operation is. Today's VC's are nothing more than glorified bankers - The word "Venture" does not belong there.
  I hope that Wall Street and VC's, at least the way they operate right now, will disappear and be remembered as a bad episode in human history.
  
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  All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... time... to... die...
LOL! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 10:06 · Score: 0

This is delicious, DELL takes his own advice to Apple and gives the money back to the shareholders.
Being Pedantic About It by Villageidiot9390 · 2013-02-05 10:57 · Score: 1

that weakness has affected its bottom line: for its fiscal 2013 third quarter, the company reported an 11 percent decrease in revenue from the previous year; while it enjoyed an increase in revenue from its servers and services businesses, revenue from its Consumer division dipped 23 percent

When one talks about affecting the bottom line, it is usually proper to quote Net Income, as it is the bottom line of the Income Statement. Revenue is the at the top, and while it may affect profit, if you have gains in your cost efficiencies, you might still be neutral on your Net Profit.
Microsoft's Long Play by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-05 11:07 · Score: 0

Microsoft is going to try and copy Apple in stealth mode.
This is tax avoidance by braeldiil · 2013-02-05 11:42 · Score: 2

The primary purpose of the deal is to repatriate a bunch of cash without having to pay corporate taxes on it. A lot of the money originally started in the US, but was hidden overseas. This brings it back. The shareholders all get a premium on the share price, giving them their cut. Dell borrows a bunch of money to pay the shareholders, then uses their offshore accounts to pay the banks back, because loan payments are tax-free. And since it's all capital gains, the shareholders are all paying less on it than you pay on your wages. It's how the 1% rolls - good for them, not so much for you.
How is this even going to get approved.. by sdnoob · 2013-02-05 17:56 · Score: 1

by the Feds? It probably will be, thanks to lobbyists and bribes^H^H^H^H^H^Hcontributions... but how could it be?
A company with Microsoft's history of anti-competitive behavior, that commands a 90%+ market share in desktop operating systems, and nearly that in office suites, all while raking in monster revenues year after year, should NOT be allowed to have any interest in a PC hardware company, and certainly not one the size of Dell.
We see how other big corporate deals have "benefited" the customer and general public so much (i.e. they never do).... will the FTC and Justice Department and other regulatory bodies ever learn their lesson?