Dell Inc, the second-biggest PC maker in the world, has started selling a cheap model in China to expand in a market where more than 90 percent of the population doesn't own PCs.
The computer, powered by an Intel Corp processor, was set be sold for between 2,599 yuan (US$336) and 3,999 yuan starting yesterday, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said in a statement issued in Shanghai.
The price is 69 percent cheaper than the lowest priced model on Dell's China Web site.
PHOTO: AFP
Dell is seeking to bolster sales through low-cost computers in developing markets as earnings growth slowed. Founder Michael Dell returned as chief executive officer in January to help the company regain the market lead after losing it to Hewlett-Packard Co in the fourth quarter last year.
"Faster sales growth in China could really give Dell a boost because of how big the market is and how much potential it has," William Bao Bean, an analyst with Deutsche Securities Co in Hong Kong, said before the briefing. "Smaller cities and towns are really where the growth is in China because incomes are rising and people are shopping for their first computers."
He rates Lenovo Group Ltd (
"We have a lot of opportunity" in the consumer market, Michael Dell told reporters in Shanghai yesterday.
"You'll see a lot more products" like the new PC introduced today, he said.
Dell is visiting Shanghai to introduce the new model and meet with customers.
The new computer, developed in China, consumes less electricity, takes up less work space and was made with first-time users in mind, the company said.
The company is also looking to sell the same computer in other emerging markets such as India and Brazil, said Alex Yung, Dell's China head of small business sales.
Michael Dell said yesterday the company also plans to buy companies to boost its services unit, helping to expand sales outside of its main business of selling PCs. The services business, which includes setting up computer networks and providing customer support, has annual sales of about US$6 billion.
"I'd expect to see acquisitions there," Michael Dell said.
He didn't identify countries or target companies.
About seven in 100 people own PCs in China, compared with two in 100 for India, the company said on Tuesday.
About 25 million PCs were sold in China last year, four times the 6 million in India, it said.
Dell's revenue in China rose 26 percent in the last fiscal year, it said in the release, without specifying an amount. In the fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, the Americas accounted for 61 percent of Dell's sales, down from 64 percent a year earlier.
Asia accounted for 12 percent for both periods.
Shares of Dell rose 0.3 percent to US$22.53 on the New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Tuesday. The stock has gained 5.1 percent in the past six months.
The company ousted former CEO Kevin Rollins after less than three years and reinstated founder Dell on Jan. 31, the same day it said sales and profit would miss forecasts for the fourth quarter.
Net income for the quarter ended Feb. 2 fell 37 percent to US$637 million from US$1.01 billion a year earlier, while sales declined to US$14.4 billion from US$15.2 billion, the company reported. The earnings are preliminary because of an accounting investigation.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
RSS