Dell plant closure marks the end of an era

Dell is DEAD! There are no americans here anymore…dell will die a slow death..Mark my words!

As a follow up, I left a post on April 1 at 12:24am with me experience with Dell. Based on that Debbie from Dell left a post on April 1 at 6:25pm asking to reach out and try to solve any problems. I did contact her and explain my problems. Even after explaining the numerous problems I had with several of their computers, and making it clear that I had given up on Dell because of the difficulty I had with technical support. Debbie’s response was that Dell was not going to fix the problem because I did not contact them when I should have. So I can only guess it was all my fault.

PERFECT! I will not ever buy another Dell.

I’d love to see Dell… or any tech company… buck the bottom-line trends and advertise service centers in North America… what would actually happen. After wrestling for years with poor connections, poorly trained Indian operators, etc, I’d gladly pay a premium to speak with someone who lives and in the USA.

DELL Computers are a piece of Junk. I have owned two of them and I would not own another. Dell has forgotten about Customer Service. Their response to customer problems are lousy and slow. Maybe the consumer will be lucky and DELL will shut all of it’s plants.

The writer is uninformed in regards to Dell’s domestic production plants, and that is inexcusable for someone who is supposed to be bringing us the news. The plant Dell closed in Austin was an old, ineffiecient facility that was being superceded by newer facilities in Nashville, and more recently the Winston-Salem area. It is not a secret that state and local authorities in NC gave Dell $279 in tax incentives to expand in the state (which recently sparked a lawsuit by a public advocacy group). In the meantime, Dell will make good use of the property the old palnt sits on – Dell has run out of room on their current Round Rock campus. Clearly this shows some smart planning on Dell’s part, but when the author of this story writes “It’s how precipitously Dell has fallen”, its shows the poor level of journalism Frobes has fallen to.

From Jon Fortt: First of all, you should read the Dell IR statement about the plant closure, which is cited in the article. It talks about the shift from laptops to desktops as a key reason for the plant shutdown. It’s also no secret that Dell is pursuing more outsourcing (rather than doing its own manufacturing) to increase efficiencies. Finally, this is Fortune, not “Frobes.”

Dell is responding to a few things:

Acer & HP are winning the notebook
war in the U.S. which is Dell’s
key market. Acer is lower cost due to its ODM relationsips and extensive use of the indirect channel.

Consumer spending drove the economy these last few years which is not Dell’s core market. They are changing this with their retail entry in U.S. However, consumer may hurt due to ailiing economy.

Dell didn’t weaken HP’s IPG unit (the bulk of HP profitability with its Lexmark relationship. Now that Dell is hitting the indirect and retail channels, this could eventually hurt HP if Dell builds its install base. Also, watch for Dell to enter the kios printer market that HP is targeting.

Emerging markets are growing faster than developed markets. Dell needs to figure out Asia and Europe. Look for acquisitions in Asia Pacific. Founder would be a good bet for Dell. They currently have a distribution relationship with VST (distributor) in China.

Asus is also coming into the U.S. market. They have incredible designs like Sony and Apple. In addition, they have their eePC that is targeting the sub-$500 notebook market / one laptop per child (OLPC). People tink OLPC is a emerging market phenom, this will also be big in the U.S.. Watch for Dell to penetrate this market as well with Linux and AMD.

Dell will continue investing in SaaS and managed services offerings. Watch for more acquisitions here. Dell will also begin to acquire resellers with competencies in the SMB market like CDW and Insight Direct. Dell is dilligently working on its indirect program. The bulk of HP’s IPG unit is the indirect channel, if Dell can figure this out, watch out HP.

Dell may enter the set top box (STB) market in an effort to control the home. Cisco, Microsoft, and others are trying to figure this out. Watch for Dell to hit this market and develop service side relationships.

In the end, Dell is going to have to lower its cost structure to slug it out with HP and the Asian based OEMs.

Just my thoughts.

My best,

Mike

The analogy with fashion and clothes always seems silly and contrived.

But the analogy that works is: automobiles. An essential, high cost, technological product. Dell ruled the Model T commoditization phase. And like Ford, could not see that it was just a phase.

I hate laptops. I have one now that automatically selects anything under my mouse if I forget to move it off the side somewhere. I’m a programmer, and a hardware person, but still haven’t found a way to shut this off. I hate laptops.

My home computer is a powerhouse, that I need to do the games and programming tasks that I require. I need a graphics card that does 3D, and audio card that does 3D, and a video display that will cause my synapses to fire uncontrollably.

I hate laptops.

I have purchased and supported thousands of computers from all the major manufactures over the past 20 years. Dell always has had a second-rate product with little to no R&D and innovation. They are following the same pattern I saw with Gateway & Packard Bell before that. Gone are the short-lived days of Dell having #1 share with their cheap tricks. Now they are back to #2 and it won’t be long before they go down to #3 and #4 because HP, Acer and Apple continue to take Dell’s market share.

Most of our Dells are in landfills somewhere or in our graveyard warehouse. Meanwhile, we still have many thousands of much older model HP’s and Apples still running without a hardware problem. And don’t get me started on Dell’s lack of support in many other countries. I work for a company that does business in more than 100 countries.

@ John – Madison, WI

“what am I, stupid?”

Yes, it appears that you are stupid.

Remember — Don’t ask a question you don’t want answered.

I have worked in Silicon Valley for 30+ years and seen company after company outsource their product developement and manufacturing to boost their bottom line. It’s greed at it’s worst and my heart goes out to the people loosing their jobs. Technologies that took decades in the US to develope are being given to foreign manufacturers so CEO’s can get huge bonuses. It’s a cycle that has been repeating over and over again for many years. I vowed long ago to never buy a product from a company that sells out it’s workers to boost their bottom line. Dell, you have just been added to my list of companies to never do business with. It’s sad that the list is growing all the time.

CDW has consistantly good service for business’ small or large. They carry everything you need, and specialize in same day shipping. No need to EVER wait on dell for anything. Also, you can build a relationship with your contact there, and work with them exclusively everytime so they learn your needs, and want to fight for us to get the job done efficiently. All based in the USA, including warehouses.

Bestbuy carries a retail line of product, and promo’s targeted for home users, etc.

There are several comments here from Dell customers, both current and former, that appear to have issues with Dell that were never resolved. I work with an online outreach team here at Dell headquarters and I’d like to help if I can. I’m particularly interested in speaking with Mike P from Fort Worth and Steve Hansen from Park Ridge (I looked you up, but found more than one) but I’d be happy to hear from anyone here if you still have something unresolved.

You can contact me by sending an email to customer_advocate@dell.com. Please put “Attn: Debbie” and “Fortune blog” in the subject line so that I can more easily find your message.

Thanks,
Debbie
Dell Customer Advocate

This is some sad times in the IT Sector. These manufacturing plant could have been converted into a Dell Laptop plant if needed. But with outsourcing, it is end of another year in the US for IT professions.

Couple of note from comments.
1) Malaysia is an Asian country. That is something I would like to point out. Dell computers are made in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan (generally speaking). So the part with Asian manufacturers are correct (please, check your geography people).
2) Apple parts are not of high quality as people stated. Intel parts are Intel parts. Most of Apple parts could be purchased onto a Dell or Wintel Clone. What Apple has done is tight grip their supplier on what is included into the Apple computers and restrict them. The parts are not necessarily better but rather more controllable for stability on Mac OS (which your thought of quality is great). Again, Apple is doing a great job on marketing to showcase the stability of the OS as being high quality when parts are no different. (No, people… I am not a supporter of MAC or Windows.. I have both and have Solaris and UNIX… I am just stating facts!)
3) Comparing iPhone with Microsoft is a silly remark because they are not in the same field focus. Though it is Apple, it does a disservice to compare iPhone to Microsoft Windows by MAC users. You should be comparing to other Phone manufacturers and maybe Microsoft Windows Mobile OS. But there is Palm as well and no one in Apple rub it in with PalmOS. So Apple user needs to get over that.

The downfall of Dell is primarily the outsourcing of business processes and becoming a big time “Bank”. Being a former Dell subcontractor, employee, and IT servicing solution company owner (we are a large corporation in Dell’s view due to amount of business generated), the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing (or can’t do) has been the issue.

It is reflect on issue with:
1) Warranty (including dispatch/logistic and quality of parts)
2) Technical Support (mostly based out in India, Phillipine, and non-US/Canada location; there a few in the US and Canada) and their automated systems
3) Non-controlling and accountable divisions (because they are considered separate entities like Dell Financial, Dell Warranty Service, etc.)
4) No innovation/ R&D in the corporation
5) They are just box makers and have not other services

1) Their idea of 3 year warranty and NBD Delivery for Commerical computers are great until you deal with the dispatch personnel to exchange, switch, or replace a part for you (which is included). The warranty idea is great but what happens if the appointment was missed (same no call/no show). Well, in the last 3 months, I have dealt with that numerous times. Being that I was a field tech and understand appointments could be missed, it would be important to call back or have some accountability. With subcontracting as the dispatch department of Dell stated “They can’t make the field tech show up on time and only could be escalated”. They have no power to make the field tech arrive. Well, the word “ACCOUNTABILITY” and “EMPOWERMENT” to do the right thing is not there nor do the end user get any compensation for the missed appointment (I could understand weather, etc being out of your control but a call back when the end user calls you about the status of the appointment? Come on now). I understand Unisys, Bantec, and all the subcontracting are limited in resources but Dell does not hold the subcontractors accountable when something goes wrong and transfer the blame to the subcontracting only. That does not make the customer happy nor do we even get compensated for the lost time due to their mistake (or the subcontracting). As stated here that firing the tech does not solve the root of dispatch issue…

Also, the parts are not as good or sturdy as it used to be. I do not know why but I have more warranty issue the past year than the previous 2 years combined! I am not sure if logistic purchase of cheap parts at the cost quality was determined by Dell. But it is definitely a common situation for our company’s calls
2) Technical Support has been showcased more than not. Though all IT manufacturers are outsourcing to non-US/Canada but Dell investment into outsourcing has been substantial. This is just addition outsource and transfer of US employees to other countries’ labor force for decrease cost. There are many situation and I have to deal with one technical support who thought my decision to switch my IT supplies to HP was a bluff and was callouse enough to say ” You got to do what is best your company” from all the issues we had. For a company that gross $.5 – 1 millions annual of computer sales (my company is a company of 3 people) and the respond I got was ludicrous and sure and behold… I am moving my channel vendor to HP (and the Dell reps are all calling back for another shot). Again, accountability has been such an issue. Also, with all the layoffs and restructuring brings another intangible of issues for Dell. No personal relationship or ties. In the past year, our company had to deal with 5 different account managers where only 1 was good up to this point. To understand our business would need someone to be there and word “stability”. Luckily, the one that was good got promoted but the replacing me brought a lot of headaches…
3) Though the Dell brand is on everything, each division is their own entity. Try going through phone support where you go from dispatch (which do not deal with customer escalation) to customer support (which does not deal with dispatch escalation in particular) to technical support (which does deal with dispatch escalation but has no means to resolve the issue if subcontractor does not contact back to end user). Their phone tree makes no sense. To add that Dell Financial is a separate entity (I have dealt with them as well and it is crazy) like the subcontractors for installation and services. You get the picture. The right hand does not know the left and right hand can’t take action or responsibility for the left. All it is just escalation reports and hoping that it will resolve itself…
4) How do you keep your market share? By being the best in redefining and innovating your brand and open market. With Dell going to personal/home market 3-5 years ago, it was a means to go to another market that was touched but dominated by competitors (HP and Sony). The same thing with printers made by Lexmark to compete with HP. The idea was great and successful had it not been for execution and quality. The problem here is that Dell had no ownership and was just Dell branded equipment. There was no R&D for the product line and banking on the Dell brand to sell. In many sense, it did until the quality became an issue. Since Dell does not do any R&D (or significant amount), it depends upon their vendors to make the products high quality. Again, with accountability an issue with Dell.. You get the picture. Plus, Dell does not develop new niche CPU. Heck, they just made a tablet PC just now when IBM, Fujustisu, and Toshiba has been doing it for the past 6-8 years…. When you do not have your own line that is a niche and you depend upon cost more than quality and special niche (and design) from vendors, you can’t really compete with the high end markets (that is why they bought Alienware)…
5) With the direct model, they have alienated all the specialty and service provider that Dell could not ever manage or support. Being that I was an account manager for a small VAR and saw Dell take over all accounts for PC and servers, why would I want to work with Dell for any project? Though it is irony that I did work for Dell as an EMC Storage specialist after working for the subcontractor, what is shown with Dell Services… Just say it is very fragmented and limited. There is no consistency, training, or personnel to go beyond the box and do servicing. They always fail to make a dent in service compare to HP and IBM. Plus, the alienate with VARs who do service helped propel HP (with Compaq) to become the leader. Why feed the very person who is going to slit your throat? They are learning that now. Selling it in BestBuy, Walmart, etc. will not finalize the deals you get the VARs who does specialty services. E.g. I work in the dental software and integration field. There is no way IBM, HP, or any vendor could compete… I know what is needed for the integration to go smooth and I work with all the dental equipment vendors for solution and case issues for resolution. I would not have sold Dell boxes had it not been my relation with Dell prior. If I was still account manager, I could work HP/Compaq for the boxes and completed the installation (with my delivery and expectation as well as management and control for a successful deployment).

At the end, Dell need to rethink their business model and need to adapt. They were good at that with the direct model but alienated a lot of the service group that fed them and helped their bottomline. Like new markets, they fail to lead and always make “second-place” boxes which do not help capture the WOW factor users. They created too many enemies in my view and they are paying for it. I hope Dell realize outsourcing does not bring profitability but rather other and unknown consequences (Did you not read the article that outsourcing is not what is cracked up to be?) especially your R&D (or lack of)?

I was layed off from Dell in Oct ‘07 after 7 yrs. I was a manager in several different areas of Dell, recved the highest “Tell Dell” survey responses and was always rated in the top 30% at review time. The “explanation” I recved about why I was laid off was that Michael wanted to follow the “GE” model and remove a layer of management from between the front line (I was a front line mgr with the highest performing team in the group) and him. It was decided that the front line mgrs would be sacrificed (only the mgrs of the top performing teams) and the area mgrs would be moved down to take their places. This way, the area mgrs would have a top performing team in place and out perform the already under performing mgrs that were left… 3 months later 90% of the area mgrs that were moved “down to front line positions” had found other less challenging positions at Dell and my job was back on the job board again. Guess who came back calling asking me to come on back and join the team???? This is a great example of the mismanagement, politics, and general disregard middle and upper management has for the front line mgrs and their teams. I just laughed and bid Dell a happy ending…Poor quality, a commitment to support only large gold/platinum enterprise customers, and no regard for employees will doom any company in the long run…

I have a Dell, like 5 years old, and it was great.
That said, Dell treats their employees like Wal Mart does, yet no one bashes them for it. Hire and fire. Constant cutting of people. Read the Dell hate sites and see employee stories. Just for their treatment of people I would not buy their stuff.
All the while Mike makes his cash… at the same time cutting people off.

I support a network of a couple of dozen PowerEdge servers, about 50 or so Latitude laptops and several hundred OptiPlex workstations. Sure, we have breakdowns but I can’t say that I’ve had an unusual amount of bad service or bad products. Dell is a name I trust and I recommend.

BTW, at home I use off-lease Latitudes that I bought from Dell Financial through eBay. I’ve been very pleased with product and the value.

I have always, and will always, own Dell. They have been the best computers on the market for a long, long time. Thank you Michael. I will, however never buy an Apple product- regardless of the popularity, so-called ease of use (what am I, stupid?), and slick marketing tactics. They suck.

Wow, I cannot believe all the negative hipe!!! I bought a Dell desktop back in 2004, w/ 3 teenage girls and the thing is still ticking!!! I’ve never had to replace any parts and when I got a virus Dell sent me the cd’s to redo my computer, FOR FREE!!! I just bought myself a Dell Inspiron 1520(green)laptop 1st of Feb, got it on the 11th, and my daughter bought hers March 16th and got it March 25th (pink). On the desktop, I’ve called customer service, even though they are a little hard to understand, they were able to help me and get my problems solved. I can’t imagine buying anything other than a Dell. Michael Dell or no Michael Dell, I still want to be able to buy them in the future.

My first Dell computer was a 386, and I’ve purchased many others since then. I always liked the fact that I could get it configured the way I wanted. Dell also seemed to be one of the first out of the chute with new technology.

Today’s Dell just needs to get back to its roots. There are 2 negative areas in particular that I have experienced in recent years: customer service and custom PC’s.

1). A couple of years ago I had a component failure, and went nuts trying to deal with it over the phone. The guy from India was pleasant, but his English was disastrous. Half the time I couldn’t understand him, and he clearly struggled understanding me. I don’t know what Dell is doing now, but that really turned me off to them.

2). The second issue was noted in other comments below. Dell used to be like Burger King – you know, have it your way. I’ve recently been shopping for a new PC, but I can’t get it configured the way I want it. I already have Adobe Elements, I already have a great monitor, I still want XP, etc, etc. This was Dell’s huge advantage over store-bought PC’s. When you went to the store, you were stuck with what was on the shelf and in the box. And that typically was not the latest and greatest – stores wanted to push the last of the old stuff out before they showed you the new. When you went online with Dell, or better yet called them, you got a custom machine with today’s technology at a better price. This practice worked great for so many years. Not so today. Has anyone else tried calling them to order a PC the way you want it? Good luck.

No company is perfect – I just hope they get back to the practices that made their business so successful, because I still prefer their PC’s over those of others.

It makes me sick that the MAC proponents view 8,500 Americans losing their jobs as some sort of Apple “victory dance.” Dell has made plenty of mistakes and, in the end, the families of those layed off will have to deal with it (not the executives who actually made the decisions). It is very sad.

There would be plenty of room for both if Dell had properly managed change. MAC’s still possess very small market share.

It is a sad day for those soon to be unemployed workers trying to find new jobs in the teeth of a recession.

The line in the article – “Asian manufacturers who assemble substantially all of the world’s laptops, including Dell’s.” is incorrect. Dell manufactures its own laptops in its facility in Malaysia.

I am planning to buy a new laptop. The look of the old Inspirons were much better. I absolutely hate the new Vostros. I love the XPS laptops but they are too expensive. Dell laptops are no longer a deal in the $500 to $700 range. So, I will most probably go for Sony Vaio or HP. Mike, are you listening?

From Jon Fortt: That’s not what Dell has told me. They contract out the final assembly of laptops, though they do put together many of their own components.

I think they began to fail when they outsources to India. Terrible customer support.

My last two computers have been gateways. I work in technology and almost no one I know would every buy a dell. They tried to save money outsourcing and lost their company.

I have been telling DELL for the last four years their support staff is great but the company is not. I had a three year gold contract. They replaced my computer twice and a motherboard.

My first computer was sent with old third-party software that required paying for an update. The replacement computer was different than the one I purchased. My DELL totally crashed and I lost everything including my external Maxtor backup. Even though I had the contract I was forced to bring it to a local technical shop. They fixed everything for $200. I will have any future computer custom made by them.

DELL Financial is considered a separate company by them and does not communicate with DELL.

I can’t believe Dell has dug itself into this hole when there have been so many warnings from their loyal customers. I have ony bought Dell Computers and Laptops over the years because for the price to value in the past they were the best deal along with thier old service / tech support model.

Dell’s build to sell model, just in time ordering of parts etc. didn’t jibe with their high markups over the past couple of years. You have to play a game on their website every Wednesday when their promotional codes change to try and grab a “fair” deal on the system you want. If you miss it you have to wait about another month for it to show up. Also, if prices on hardware parts drop, you don’t get the benefit as they just up the part to a more expensive next generation part to keep the price the same.

I bought an Inspriron 1520 in October and it took weeks to get a configuration for sale with the Intel T7500 mobile processor and some other higher end features I wanted. I waited them out and got it and the Laptop rocks. I couldn’t be happier with the final parts I got, quality of the build etc. However as always, the small amount of technical support I needed initally was a living nightmare with Bangalore, Deli, Madras, Phillipines and Costa Rica call centers all putting me in que, transferring me, hanging up by mistake. Not being allowed to make outbound calls to call me back. 99% of the time I just ask for a U.S., Candadian or Ireland call center and they tell me I will have to call back and see if the que sends me there. Rediculas!!!

Second: I have been trying to buy their XPS 420 Desktop for over two months. It rocks but the way I want it configured with their 425 watt power supply requires me to buy a lot of bloated other peices of hardwared that I didn’t want. They up the hard drive size beyond what I wanted, force me to buy their monitor no matter what ($300 -$350) value when I own a beautiful Samsun 22″ Widscreen already and don’t neet it. Also, they are pusing a “Limited Edition of Adobe Elements Suites” a “$349 value” you can’t decline. HA! can’t remove the item from the configuration. They have all the parts in their system and availabel with other configurations but the poor sales reps couldn’t make the few reasonable adds and removes I wanted. They weren’t allowed to use override codes etc. One of the sales reps told me they were circulating a petition to management to get them to be more responsive to what the customers on the telphone were asking for in terms of simple configuration changes. I was ready to buy and was putting up with all the on hold while they went to check with thier floor supervisors and managers.

What a shame, Dell had a great model and overall superior products than what you can buy on the self at a place like Best Buy where the average consumer doesn’t know where they cut corners with slower memory, older motherboard chip sets, ancient video cards. Yes they are cheap but not that much cheaper than Dell but with inferior “last years” parts.

I really would like to see Dell survive and thrive. Michael Dell needs to clean house and listen to his employees and customers. They know what they want and need. Instead he will probably hire high priced consultants who “will hold his watch and tell him the time”.

Come on Dell!

Good, I bought a machine from these clowns that blew up 2 months after the warranty expired.

I’ve always had good luck with dell tech support. If you don’t get an answer you like just call back until you do. I always purchase the 3 year next day service with accidental damage coverage for desktops and laptops and they are on top of the problem. The are willing to meet anywhere and if I need a part they just drop ship it to me.

And all my servers have same day 4 hour response and it’s amazing how fast the parts arrive to fix a problem.

I must be one of the few that really like Dell service…

They may be a little behind on the latest technology and features but the price is always REAL hard to beat.

HP is out sourcing the the build of there systems and laptops to a company named Foxconn and the majority of the laptops are built in either Mexico or China and they wonder why the economy is hurting.

Service after the sale. You see it more and more, companies just don’t care. Laptop, desktops, are just like refrigerators, stoves, etc., just an appliance. Some day, someone will reap all the benefits because they have a knowledgable service and technical staff, they will be the future.

As a small business manager, with just under 100 employees, we have opted to not buy from Dell for many reasons. One is, it is a lot easier to get the products we need cheaper and faster at a BestBuy or even Amazon.com then wait for Dell to ship.
Second and more personal is that Dell Financial authorized someone who stole my owner’s SSN, the purchase of $10,000 worth of computers on credit. When the owners were finally made aware of this because of a collection agency call, Dell Financial made no attempt to eliminate the problem even though they were negligent in approving the purchase – even though the buyer could not verify the home town of birth or maiden name – but Dell Financial did it anyway.

They are so desperate for sales that they will go out of their way to finance transactions without doing any due diligence and proper credit authorization.

It cause the owners of the company serious credit set backs, to the point, where they couldn’t even finance a king size mattress purchase at a local retailer.

I am waiting for the first word on a Dell Financial class-action lawsuit so I can alert the owners of my company to join in on reigning in the abusers at Dell Financial and anybody else responsible for such lending tactics. Forget the mortgage debacle, why don’t people start investigating Dell Financial and learn of the fraudulent practices they have been employing for years.

I Hate Dell more than anything. Their equipment is just white box junk that I can build myself for half the price. I am surprised just one plant is closing. Apple is the way to go.

I bought a Dell XPS 420 12/07. It’s a fantastic computer. And it included software extras like Photoshop elements. Cost less than an HP and service was great

Dell’s tech support is horrible. I bought my first Dell computer 1 year ago, and had a minor problem. But the guy on the line was not really interested in solving my problem, he was trying to sell me more stuff so I could upgrade and there would be no need for him to fix anything and he would probably be paid more. But I don’t know if HP would deliver better service, I never had a HP computer.

2nd post.

The thing I find most interesting is the standard replies that the customer service gives. Standard replies detach the company from its customers. Not a good thing. Customers’ needs human making decisions to meet the needs of the customers. Otherwise, how is it different from a recorded message.

For those of you who are defending dell, I hope your faith is stronger than the rebellious customers. Why don’t you put down 10k in their stocks and speak with the power of money.

Are you kidding me? Dell is doing badly now because Apple is doing well? Not even close. The fact of the matter is Dell never had a more efficient manufacturing model than anybody else’s. What Dell had going for it was a subsidy from Intel amounting to $1bn/year. Intel is now splashing all of its favours on Apple, but not with subsidies but with free engineering services — much cheaper than the subsidies. And Apple doesn’t need to sell its products for cheaper than anybody else to get a sale, it just has a cachet which lets it sell things even if they are more expensive.

I have not seen any comments about Dell Financial. You want to talk about bad service, just try getting through to these jokers. It took 18 months before I was able to get attention about an invoice that was long paid for but I was still getting billed for. I left messages with supervisors and never once did I get a return call. Finally 18 months later from my first call (I purchased the items about 4 years ago) I got a call from a collection agency (from India). I told them I was not going to pay the amount and I had tried to dispute the charges long ago. I would just laugh each time a new person called because it was like starting over again.

So get this… last week another agent calls me and tells me I have a week to pay or else!!! Then I get an email from them saying my account has been written off. I said good because it was bogus anyway…

I purchased about $20,000 worth of Dell products from 2000 – 2005, but I would never purchase from them again after this fiasco.

It’s funny because I have a graveyard of Dell computers in the warehouse. I use them for parts when one of my working ones gives out. But for the most part after about 18 months a Dell would just give out. Laptops maybe 8 – 12 months.

I have another section of old Apples from the 90’s. The difference is that the Apples still work, but the technology is so old that they are not practical to use anymore. I’m just saving them for nostalgia purposes.

I used to say the worst thing that ever happened was that Apple lost (to microsoft), but I am glad they are on the winning path again (because microsoft is inferior too)-

I love my iphone.

I purchased a dell inspiron 9400 2 years ago. What a pathetic piece of crap, on top of it their model name’s idea was to inspire. Oh ya, they inspire me not to purchase another ever again.

Here’s the issue: lousy customer service with standard replies where heavy accent required you to sit down and analyze each and every word the rep is mouthing off. WTF, can you spell it to me, I just don’t understand! As if this is not bad enough, you are left wondering if they actually understood your needs after the phone conversation. Sure enough my needs were never met even after several phone calls – I was suppose to get a credit, but never got one. I gave up.

At this point, I say to myself, ok, take a loss and cross out dell in any future purchase. Well, soon enough my laptop’s AC adapter broke. The area with the most critical need for quality failed. I am an engineer and the adapter’s connector is just so poorly designed for everyday use. Ugh, without a functioning AC adapter, I might as well get a desktop. dell had to ding me with $100 for a new adapter. Wonderful.

I am in the market for another laptop with several thousands of dollars to spend, where do you think my money will go. Not dell, that is for sure!!!

I went back to grad school about three years ago. Needed a laptop and Dell had a line of basic and cheap ones. The thing has worked perfectly with no problems. It was also about $200 cheaper than anybody else.

I think people want to buy right front their eyes and go home 123 ta dah!!!rather than have to wait couple days or so. and at store you can have a good deal such as rebate and instant discount.Now some stores you can have HP laptop with window vista 2gb/250gb $700

What? Someone stop me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure Dell sells Laptops.

It really comes down to this. I opened a small business in 2003. I bought eight Dell Dimension PC’s and one Inspiron laptop, oh yea they do sell laptops. Four of the PC’s had problems. That is a 50% defect rate. The laptop too broke, I sent it in. They fixed it and sent it back. Within a couple of weeks the USB ports stopped working and dealing with their Asian tec support was not worth the struggle to send it back in again. I just bought a new Fujitsu P8010 laptop and it is the best computer I’ve ever owned.

It’s about quality and service, and price becomes a close second. Something Dell forgot about a few years back and I’ll never buy another Dell. Hey Mr. Dell, if you want to make it right and you can look up in your records and give me a call.

Well I don’t work for DELL, but must say my Latitude Laptop rocks, solid as a rock, no problems – its on 24X7 pretty much. Agree with others they make some CHEAP products and cheap fashion is maybe not what everyone wants these days. I do have a DELL TV and not impressed – losing their focus on those.

The Apple machines are nice too (I’m an omnivore – win,linux,osx/bsd they all have good and bad points), but I think part of the success of other OS’s and hardware is people are bored of windows/grey box and want to try something new. Dell can get back in the game but it depends on innovation and R&D as a previous poster said.

Where’s my lightweight internet device with 18Hr battery life? Where’s my easy videoconference device – without forcing Granny to operate a PC. Where’s a decent media center device ?- nothing out there yet – yes they barely exist but not impressed. Get innovating or MSFT, CSCO, APL .. will do it instead.

What goes around comes around. I purchased a dell laptop from a mall kiosk. It arrived and the DVD drive did not work. Sent it back. Two weeks later it arrived back saying it worked fine. It did not work at all. We were so disappointed we returned to the mall kiosk that sold us the unit to return it for a refund, and were told, “We are only sales people, we do not do tech support We only sell them we do not take them back.” When we started to complain, they called mall security on us. I just do not understand, with such outstanding customer service why would they be in trouble?

I am sure everyone that posted here remembers when having a Dell was the best thing and it still is. Every company has problems and they go through phases. Look at HP, Compaq, Gateway and even Apple. They all have been forecasted to be out of business soon. Some have gone or merged while others have shot back to be number one. I would not be surprised if Dell doesn’t shoot back to number one again. They have the marketing and branding to do it again. I bet more people are using Dell computers right now than any other computers out there. Those who purchased a Dell will purchase another one over the next two years. If Dell focuses on current customers and targets them, they can win the business back. They do have a lot of work to do.

I will tell you this much. It’s sad that people will lose there jobs but Michael Dell is a right wing visionless idiot so this was bound to happen!
Dell now has a huge mess on his hands and not many options to fix them. Dell quality and customer service really sucks.
There products are poorly marketed and the price advantage has all but disappeared.
Dell is adding color and style which is about 10 years overdue and really not relevant.
Today, people want real style and real substance!
Dell has neither and is destined to die a slow and painful death.
Maybe Apple fans should tell Michael to shut this mess down! Turnabout is very fair play!

As a former employee of Dell (albeit 8 years ago), these are problems that were becoming evident at the time that I decided to get out. Some people have made very good business points while others have made points based on emotion, and both are very valid.

Here two problems that have continued to see, both of which are tied to the company’s unwillingness to make investments in the business.

1. Cool factor. Dell did have a very strong brand when the name of the game was efficiency. The company revolutionized the industry not only with its direct sales model, but it also did so in terms of its ability to manage a supply chain better than anyone, in any industry. However, it counted on maintaining an advantage in an area that was bound to catch up with it sooner or later. While companies struggled to correct their sales channels and go-to-market strategies., and oftentimes at significant costs, Dell just continued to invest in its one-trick pony. The competition finally caught up, and when they did so, were able to have a multi-channel approach of direct sales with a strong reseller channel that addressed the needs of customers where the direct model was not the right fit. This has translated in to the company becoming almost a cartoon of itself.

Apple has created an unbelievable business and a brand that truly has captured the minds and emotions of consumers. I would say that they are more of a media and content management company than a technology company, but I am not going to argue that point. I will just say that they do a great job. HP, while not a “cool” as Apple, still has a diversified business and offers a lot of opportunities for consumers, businesses, and government agencies through multiple channels. And their relatively new CEO has done a tremendous job in returning them to prominence by both cutting costs and making wise investments.

2. SKU-based selling does not work. Dell does not sell solutions, they sell boxes. Any solution they have is a loose assembly of “partners” or outsource providers that are oftentimes at odds with each other. Companies and organization, big and small, want to install solutions and not machines. Why sell someone 10 servers when two that are properly balanced will do the job with room to spare? Reps are paid on units shipped and not what is best for the client. Why invest in having techs on the bench when you can use someone else’s? It costs money to do so, but it also allows you to control the total customer experience and corresponding costs. The list goes on and on, as this e-mail has.

Dell as a company has a lot of cash, though their burn rate has increased significantly in the past 6 months. And while I do not have all of the answers, I can say that the company cannot “cut costs” to get out of this. They need to take a serious look at what their competitors are doing and find the niche that they feel they have the opportunity to exploit with the right investments in talent and resources. They do not have the capacity to develop intellectual property like IBM, offer services and solutions like HP, or capitalize on branding like Apple in their current state of affairs. They need to pick a course, invest wisely, and start to right the ship.

Some of you are a little eager to tap dance on the grave of what is still the second largest PC manufacturer in the business. Apple is still a niche player in the PC market and will remain so. Kudos to you mac fan boys for cool design, but you aren’t the top dog when it comes to money and volume.

As for the others who are celebrating the loss of people’s jobs, shame on you! How would you feel if your job was nicked and you were on unemployment in this economy? Those are human beings you are talking about.

I used to work for Dell during the heyday of the late 90’s and while I no longer work for them, I can tell you they are still a huge company. They will recover from this but they probably will not retake the lead in computers from HP anytime soon.

I’m surprised at all the Dell-bashing. For the past 10 years, I’ve used only two computers, both Dells. Only once did I have a major computer problem that was not Windows-related, and it was soon after I bought the second one so it was still under warranty and Dell sent someone to my apartment to take of the problem in a couple days. Dells aren’t anything special, but they still tend to give you the most computer (not necessarily most stylish) for the buck.

I agree! I’d have better luck consulting with a group of monkeys than to get help by Dell’s customer support. I once bought a Dell laptop back in 2001 and I’ll never purchase a Dell product again.

Funny, I built some schools in Round Rock, Texas (Dell’s home)in the early 90’s, and could never understand the attitudes of all the new computer workers I met who had moved there-some sort of Texas religious right wing “Dell is so superior” mentality.

4 years ago, when my old Windows 98 laptop died, I remember calling Dell about those cheap desktops for about $400 described in the constant mailers I used to receive. I didn’t have one of their cheap brochures on hand when I called, so I simply asked them for an inexpensive desktop, since I was newly retired, and just needed to check E Mail and such. The lady on the phone line told me the cheapest desktop they had was $798 plus other charges. I insisted they must be wrong, and have cheaper ones-she said no. So I went down to Office Depot the next day, and bought an HP desktop with Windows XP and stuff for $400 less a $50 rebate-$350 total. To date, WLT-works like a top. A few months after that, I was visiting my Bud working in Hawaii, and all he could do was complain about his lousy Dell laptop. I felt like Mr. Smarty Pants.

Gee, wonder what will happen to the blessed few, soon to be the very few working at the Round Rock plant? LOL.

I hate to sound like an Apple fanboy – but here I go anyway.

What is happening now is we are seeing a flight to Quality. Low-cost commoditizers can not deal with this. HP has always striven for this at least in principle even in the dark commodity-sells days.

Apple, of course, is the epitome of Quality. (Though I have to admit that I worry about it with this new iMac screen lawsuit.)

Finally – after all these years – people are waking up to the fact that there is a difference. People are beginning to look at the overall cost of the computer they buy, not just a few dollars at the checkout stand.

One more comment…Here’s a bit of a cost saving measure for you Michael. Quit solicting my business with your worthless mailers. I too bought one of your junck boxes back in 01′ after being brainwashed that your technical support was second to none. I can honestly say that computer was so worthless that I bought an Apple laptop only 4 months later…and believe me, I hated Apple as much as you did at the time. Ironically, Dell sold me on switching platforms….Thanks Mike, I owe ya one!

I love it. Michael Dell had this coming to him when he sat high up on his perch declaring Apple dead and that he’d chop it into pieces and sell the business. Just proves he never really had any long term vision. As if Jobs wasn’t smug enough, I bet he’s just giddy with seeing Dells demise. Too bad Michael didn’t live by a wise man’s principle “Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt”.

This article missed the most blatent offense to Dell’s growth. When Dell moved their tech support to India, everyone who bought a Dell had a complaint about poor service and unsatisfactory assistance. Even placing an order, waiting a month, and trying to call to find out where it was, gave unsatisfactory results. Problems like their website saying In Stock when prducts weren’t, and nobody tells you as you wait for weeks on end, turned people off right and left. Buy an HP server and If it ever breaks they are onsite in 4 hours fixing it. Buy a Dell server and it arrives bad right out of the box, then it takes a week of back-and-forthing over the phone going over what you tried again and again before they agree to send you a part to try. Mission critical servers can’t be down for a whole week. Bad service is what destroyed Dell.

If I was you, Mr. Dell, I’d liquidate the company and give the shareholders their money back.

Ironic ain’t it … but then Michael Dell never will be able to hold a candle to Steve Jobs.

I bought a Dell desktop computer in 2001 and opened it up after UPS delivery. I had heard so much good about Dell computers but I was disappointed upon cutting it on and one of the CD drives did not work. I called Dell but could not get any help on phone or online. So I opened it up and found the problem myself – a data cable was hanging loose ( I suspect it was not checked properly at the factory before it was shipped). I told myself then that next time I would NOT buy another Dell.

Dell faces systemic problems that cost cutting wont fix. Apple, HP and other have innovative products while Dell cant get it’s head around anything but cost leadership.

Add to the mix that Dell’s service lags consumer and industry expectations and it’s in deep trouble.

Mr. Dell knows about cost control and understood the direct model. In a commodity-based business Dell lacks the vision and leadership to make a turnaround

Dell made 3 mistakes, not one. You hit the first one, but the other two were equally important: declines in customer service and R&D spending.

Dell tarnished its name with both consumers and businesses by delivering HORRIBLE customer service for several years in a row. Worse, they failed to even acknowledge the problem for a long time, which is the ultimate sin in customer satisfaction. Attempts to fix the problems have been ineffective according to the current service ratings.

Dell also failed to keep pace in R&D spending and innovation, producing a series of mediocre products just as the customer focus on style and features became predominant. Laptop market share shifted to HP, which introduced more than twice the number of models during the last few years than Dell. While Dell has attempted to boost innovation by purchasing Alienware, synergy has not yet happened with the mainstream Dell product lines. And of course, HP retaliated by buying Voodoo.

Dell was big enough and agile enough to deal with any one of these three problems, but the combination of them brought unavoidable disaster to the brand, the market share, and the bottom line. Rollin bears the blame for sinking the ship, but Dell himself set the course for it.