Dell
Dell, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Round Rock, Texas. It is currently the largest manufactuer of computers.
History
The company was founded by Michael Dell in 1984 under the name PC's Limited while he was a freshman at the University of Texas. The company became successful enough that he dropped out at the age of 19 to run the business full-time.
In 1985, Dell had designed its first computer of its very own design, which became known as the Dell Turbo, which contained a fast (at the time) Intel 8088 processor running at a speed of 8 megahertz. In 1987, the company became Dell Computer Corporation. Dell Computer is perhaps best known for the personal computers it designs, manufactures and sells for home and office use, but Dell is also in the enterprise computing market with servers, data storage devices, network switches and computer cluster lines. Personal Digital Assistants, software & peripherals, including printers, rounds out Dell's product offerings.
In 1999, Dell overtook Compaq to become the largest seller of personal computers in the United States. In 2002, Dell lost the lead to Hewlett-Packard, which acquired Compaq in 2002. In Q1 2003 Dell again regained the lead.
To recognize the company's expansion beyond computers, the stockholders approved changing the company name to Dell, Inc. at the annual company meeting in 2003.
The Dell direct business model, which eliminates the middleman, is known for its speed of sale-to-delivery of the company's products. Dell builds computers to order. This keeps its inventory costs low. Also, in this business model, the product is paid for before it is built. This gives Dell a negative cash conversion cycle.
A support division of Dell is Dell International Services.
In 2004, Kevin Rollins became Dell's next chief executive officer
Brands
Dell markets their products under many brand names, such as Optiplex, Dimension, Latitude, Inspiron, Precision and PowerEdge. The XPS brand was recently introduced to target the lucrative gaming market. XPS desktop systems are blue rather than the black cases found on newer Dell PCs.
Non computer products
Recently Dell has expandeded into non-computer products. Most notably the Dell DJ (a portal mp3 player) and LCD Televisions. It also makes USB keys.
Financial information
Dell was incorporated as a Texas corporation in 1984 with a capitalization of US$ 1000, the minimum allowed by Texas law. In June 2003, Dell, now a Delaware corporation, had a market capitalization of US$ 90 billion and revenues (FY 2003) of approximately US$ 40 billion. Dell stock is floated on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York under the symbol DELL.
Advertising
Dell advertises heavily on television, the internet, magazines and newspapers with constant special offers to encourage sales, since they do not sell their products in any retail environemnt. However, recently Dell has begun installing kiosks in major malls that show off their newest products, and allow you to order a product for shipment to your house. Still, many users insist Dell either sell in established stores such as Circuit City, or create their own stores such as Apple did.