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Dell reaching new heights
Wed, 27 Jun 2007
Dell, the second largest PC maker, has a new strategy to attract more consumers by going pink.

Their consumer sales only account for 15 per cent of overall US sales, their primary customers being businesses.

By creating a new consumer-focused division, they are hoping to overcome recent difficulties in this market. Their new mantra is to create a fast-changing line of dazzling consumer PCs.

The new models can be seen via their website and are already available for sale. Some of the laptops are feature-packed, while others are slim performance laptops. However the midrange models are the most appealing in a range of eight colours from espresso brown to sunshine yellow.

Technical analyst J.P. Gownder with Forrester Research said, "They’re good colours. They look cool."

The new range is part of a complete overhaul of the company. Michael Dell, founder of the company is back and his mission is to prevent further market-share losses to competitors like Hewlett Packard . The executive team has been re-organised and the company is now selling PCs in stores such as Wal-Mart, with more retail partnerships on the way. This is a big step for Dell who would only sell via their website or their own catalogue.

Tech analyst, Samir Bhavnani with Current Analysis West said that it is hard to appreciate the design or colour of a product if you are just looking at a picture on a website.

To show the company is committed to their new strategy, Alex Gruzen, Senior Vice President said, "In the past, consumers had taken a back seat. We didn’t have the most compelling offering. Now we do."

According to Bhavnani it could be 9 to 12 months before Dell knows if the strategy works. However, Gownder says that the company has made the right move. His recent study showed that 54 per cent of consumers consider style when buying PCs.