Dell hopes for small business laptop revival
The figures from PC market analysts are depressing, but Michael Dell, at least, is expecting a sales surge as companies regain confidence. John Stokdyk reports
Dell's European vice president for the small & medium business sector, Aongus Hegarty, passed on this insight from the company's founder and chairman at a recent roundtable meeting in London. The overall market figures are bleak, he acknowledged. According to IDC, unit sales among small businesses in the UK are down 14%-15%; desktop prices have fallen 20% and spending is down 30%.
"There's no doubt lifecycles are increasing - typically companies that replenished their PCs every three years are now holding out for four," he noted. Approvals were also slowing from Dell's finance and leasing partners, so companies were having to defer technology buying decisions until they could better afford them.
"Rather than replenishing and replacing laptops and desktops, companies are looking at smaller investments that will increase performance, for example new hard drives or additional memory," Hegarty said.
Continued...
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Dell quality
As someone who has bought dell computers for the past 12 years I would advise Michael Dell that if the quality of his product continues to go down then his business will do likewise.
I have recently bought a new laptop which was built and sent from China - a change from Ireland where they used to be replaced.
There was a major problem with the screen and it was lucky I had taken out the apporpriate insurance. The engineer who turned up the next day managed to make smoke come out of the machine when trying to repair it and this meant a new machine had to be built and sent from China - another 2 week delay!
There is no doubt that the build quality and components have been sourced cheaper by Dell over the years and if this continues then they will no longer have the reliability that businesses require.