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Dell
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feature
Dell, far too late, trims ad-agency roster down to one
Why is Dell taking a beating from HP? One reason may be that it didn't apply its vaunted supply-chain techniques to its marketing. Before asking WPP to create a single-client ad agency just for Dell, the PC maker worked with 800 advertising agencies around the world. [News.com]
Why is Dell taking a beating from HP? One reason may be that it didn't apply its vaunted supply-chain techniques to its marketing. Before asking WPP to create a single-client ad agency just for Dell, the PC maker worked with 800 advertising agencies around the world. [News.com]
dell
Dell names new CFO
Dell replaced departing CFO Don Carty with Brian Gladden, former CEO of a plastics company. Carty is the third exec in recent weeks to leave Dell as its founder Michael Dell, recently returned to the CEO role, cuts payroll costs in an effort to turn around the company. Carty, a Dell board member who stepped in after a former CFO quit in late 2006, is also the chairman of Virgin America. [WSJ]
acquisitions
HP moving to acquire EDS in $12 billion-plus deal
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hewlett-Packard is nearing a deal to buy EDS for $12 billion to $13 billion. Having set Dell back on its heels in PC sales, HP is now moving to challenge IBM. As computers become commodities, the money is in installing and maintaining them, not marking up Intel's microprocessors and Microsoft's operating system for a thin margin. One wonders if Michael Dell is gutsy enough to launch a rival bid — or, with HP now worth three times as much as Dell, if he can really afford to.
apple
Intel lets Jobs play with its chips early, makes the other PC kids watch
Apple updated its iMacs today with a new processor from Intel that's not supposed to be available for another 45 days yet. It's not the first time Intel gave Steve Jobs first dibs. A year ago, new iMacs came out with an Intel 3.0-GHz quad-core processor that HP and Dell had to wait on.
apple
Salesforce to become an all-Mac shop
Customer relationship management software shop Salesforce's contract with Dell is about to run out, and the company has decided not to renew it. Instead, the company will be outfitting everyone one of their 4,000 employees with a brand new Macintosh, according to an anonymous tipster cited by Alex Curylo. The tipster explains:And why, you ask, Security! The resources it takes to defend against all the stuff the baddies throw at a PC, it's just cheaper/easier to pay a few bucks more for a Mac and not have any of those issues.While that excuse makes some rational sense, I'm thinking there's also some regional chauvinism at work with Salesforce's earlier move to publicly side with Google — in other words, score another point for Team Valley against Team Redmond. (Photo by Andrew)
layoffs
Your pink slip is here
Dell will lay off more than the 8,800 employees it originally estimated last year, CEO Michael Dell told analysts. Since last year, the company has fired 3,200. Another 900 will go with the impending closure of an Austin, Texas factory. [WSJ]
layoffs
Dell lays off 900 as it closes once-groundbreaking PC factory
Dell is closing its Austin, Texas manufacturing plant, once hailed as a miracle of modern manufacturing, and will fire up to 900 employees. The computer maker is looking to save $3 billion over the next three years and views the firings as a "opportunity to drive both productivity and efficiency." Dell announced last year that it wanted to cut 8,800 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce. So far, the company has laid off more than 3,000 workers. Which serves as a reminder: For the 250, April 1 is a big joke; for working stiffs who actually make technology and have to hit their numbers, it's the deadly serious start of the second quarter. (Photo by Michael Kanellos/News.com)
Dell's profit declined 6.5 percent to $679 million. Restructuring and other charges hurt the computer maker's bottom line. Revenue climbed 10 percent to $16 billion. The company, which has been struggling to reshape itself in the cutthroat computer market, warned future results could suffer as it incurs more restructuring costs and copes with "conservative spending" by customers. [WSJ]
the chart
2008 has not been kind to tech stocks, especially the Valley's leading lights.
Can we get a do-over?
2008 has not been kind to tech stocks, especially the Valley's leading lights.
conflicts of interest
Michael Dell wants to buy his little brother's start-up, awww
Michael Dell is adding one more bronco to his stable, email backup service MessageOne. The company is ho-hum — boring enterprise software; the founder, not so much. That's because his last name is also Dell. As in Adam Dell, Michael's younger brother. That's not the only part of this deal that's staying in the family: The $155 million addition will kick $12 million back to Michael, who invested in MessageOne. He says his profits will go to charity. Adam will walk away with $1 million, and the brother's parents, another $500,000.
hardware
Dude, you're not getting a Dell ... with an AMD chip
Dell has stopped selling almost all consumer PCs with AMD processors in favor of chips from Intel. It will continue to sell AMD machines over the phone and through retail partners like Wal-Mart, but since much of Dell's computer sales are through its website, this is a serious blow to AMD. Dell spokesman David Frink did not give any reasoning behind the switch, but said "we adjust our product offerings frequently." A posting on the Direct2Dell blog said "we are committed to the AMD product lines as a long-term partner to provide the maximum choice for our customers." Translation: Intel gave Dell a better deal. AMD shareholders were not impressed with the switch: AMD was off almost 3.5 percent on the day. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)
advertising
Tech ads from the Super Bowl
While none of these can match the drama of Apple's 1984 ad — or the actual football game — a few of this year's crop of tech ads made me laugh. Check out these clips from Dell, GoDaddy.com, Cars.com, CareerBuilder, E-Trade and more. More »
retail
Dude, you're not getting a Dell ... at the mall
Dell is closing its 140 mall kiosks to focus on sales through major retailers like Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Staples, all of which Dell has made deals with in the past few months. The kiosks will be be mostly closed within a few days, though Dell kiosks abroad will remain open. More »
100-word version
Tom Perkins on how Tom Perkins turned around HP
BusinessWeek's Spencer Ante has another interview outtake with former Hewlett-Packard board member and Kleiner Perkins cofounder Tom Perkins. In it, Perkins explains how he helped turn around HP. Here's the 100-word version of the harrowing tale of board committees, patent policies and microprocessors oh my! More »
politics
Immigration limits spur Hindu god's popularity
The U.S. government's cap on how many educated immigrants can come and work for companies like Google, Microsoft and Dell continues to spur the economy. Just not ours. But business couldn't be better at the Chilkur Balaji temple on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India, reports the Wall Street Journal. That's where some 100,000 visitors a week flock to pray before Lord Balaji, known as the "Visa God." More »
forecasts
Valleywag's 25 predictions for 2008
Valleywag is of course known for its dead-on accuracy, so our predictions for 2008 need no introduction. Inside, my 25 predictions (made without inside information) cover the futures of Facebook, Google, Digg, YouTube, Twitter, the Wall Street Journal, Apple, Yahoo, Gawker Media, AOL, Dell, LOLcats, the president, and more. More »
11:11 PM on Fri Dec 21 2007
By Nick Douglas
11,743 views,
28 comments
Dell has announced it will start selling computers in Tesco stores across Europe, expanding the Texas company's global retail reach. Where would you rather buy a computer? Europe's answer to Wal-Mart or a fancy Apple Store? [Reuters]
