…As if they weren’t competative enough. Their prices wipe the floor with everyone elses. Good news for us though as it looks like their prices will fall even more.
Dell today detailed additional actions in its previously announced program to restore the competitive advantage of the company’s operating model, rationalize its operations and improve profitability and cash flow.
“We believe we have a $3 billion opportunity to drive both productivity and efficiency,” said Michael Dell, Dell’s chairman and CEO. “We’ve analyzed the business and opportunity, so we know - without question - where our priorities should be. And as we’ve reignited growth in our business, we’re taking deliberate steps across the company to improve our competitive position.”
The actions Dell will take during Fiscal 2009 and beyond are expected to position the company to further accelerate growth in its five focus areas: global consumer, enterprise, notebooks, small and medium enterprise and emerging countries, while improving profitability and cash returns. As a part of a broader assessment of its global manufacturing and logistics network, the company will close its desktop manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas.
In addition, the company will take further actions to reduce total product costs across all areas, including design, manufacturing and logistics, materials and operating expenses. Dell expects that the initial benefits from these actions will begin to be realized in the second half of this fiscal year. Over the next three years, the company expects to achieve annualized savings of approximately $3 billion, and will use this benefit to strengthen its competitive position and improve profitability. The company also reaffirmed its previously announced plans to reduce global employee headcount by at least 8,800 and related operating expense. In the last nine months of the company’s fiscal 2008, it reduced headcount by 3,200, excluding acquisitions.
“We expect that these actions, along with the continuing rigor we’re applying to operating expense control throughout our operations, will result in an improved, world-class cost structure,” said Don Carty, Dell’s vice chairman and CFO.
The company also announced it is undertaking a strategic assessment of ownership alternatives for its Dell Financial Services financing activities. The assessment will primarily focus on the consumer and small/medium business revolving credit financing receivables and operations in the U.S., but may also include commercial leasing.
“We plan to look at alternatives that will strengthen the product offerings, enhance customer experience and improve DFS’ overall financial services capabilities in the most efficient way,” said Mr. Carty.
The outcome of the assessment will depend on the customer, capital and economic impact of alternative ownership structures. It is possible the assessment will result in no change to the ownership and/or operating structure. The company expects to complete the assessment in Q3 of the current fiscal year.
For more discussion of these actions, visit Dell’s Investor Relations Blog site, www.dell.com/dellshares. Additional details about these initiatives will be provided during the company’s Equity Analyst Meeting and Webcast on Wednesday, April 2 and Thursday, April 3, 2008. The meeting webcast may be viewed at www.Dell.com\investor.
I wonder how long before we get this for that price. Looked on their site and they are lying. http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs maybe it will be updated tomorrow.
The high-definition format wars are over - and you won: Dell customers can now get a Blu-ray laptop for under a $1,000. Available today on dell.com, movie buffs can pick up the InspironTM 1525 with optional Blu-ray disc playback starting at $879.
As retailers and video rental companies expand their high-definition offerings, Blu-ray is the new “must-have” technology to help get the most out of your viewing experience.
The award-winning Inspiron 1525 laptop features a 15.4-inch high definition wide aspect display with 720p resolution. It also includes an HDMI port for easy connectivity to high resolution displays and HDTVs.
The Blu-ray player disc drive is fully backwards compatible, and will play as well as burn traditional DVDs and CDs. Consumers can also chose a Blu-ray burner drive, which is great for backing up and storing important files like digital photos, videos, financial records, etc. A Blu-ray disc will hold up to 50 GB of data, vs. 8.5 GB available on the typical DVD disc.
The lightweight Inspiron 1525 is all about self expression, allowing customers to complement their individual style with a laptop that offers designs like Chill, Blossom and Commotion, or a spectrum of vibrant colors, like Sunshine Yellow, Midnight Blue and Ruby Red.
Dell Inspiron 1525 laptops with Blu-ray disc drives incorporate Broadcom Media PC technology that allows PCs with integrated graphics to play high definition video. The high-definition video playback is enabled through a built-in dedicated accelerator located in a mini-card slot.
Like all Dell consumer laptops, the Inspiron 1525 features Dell MediaDirect technology which provides one button instant access to media files, even if the system is powered off or in hibernate. Optional accessories for a great movie watching experience include a slim travel power adapter ($80), Dell travel remote control (IR) that slips into the ExpressCard slot ($22), and Creative noise-isolation earphones ($25). The Inspiron 1525 laptop with Blu-ray is available today in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Dell is partnering with Egenera Inc. to deliver a fully integrated solution for employing dynamic data center environments. Together, the two companies intend to combine Dell’s award-winning PowerEdgeTM server line, a full suite of Dell’s Infrastructure Consulting Services and Egenera’s PAN Manager infrastructure virtualization software. The solution is designed to enable customers to simplify operations by creating and managing a single resource pool for both physical and virtualized servers.
“Dell is listening to customers and providing solutions that make the virtual data center easier to deploy and manage, regardless of platform,” said Rick Becker, vice president, Dell Software & Solutions. “Dell and Egenera will help customers focus on company growth by delivering excellence in virtualized infrastructure from server performance, storage interoperability to dynamic data center management.”
“The Dell-Egenera relationship was driven by customer need for simple, agile and cost-effective solutions that virtualize and unify data center assets beyond a single server,” said Mike Thompson, president and CEO, Egenera. “We’re driving to provide customers with a powerful, integrated way to manage server, network and storage assets, with lower operational costs, increased resource utilization and uptime.”
*First online partner to join Dell in offering carbon-offset option
*One-hundred percent of contributions remitted to The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org for tree planting
ROUND ROCK, Texas, and BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Dell customers looking for an environmentally-responsible computing option at samsclub.com can now help offset the carbon impact of the electricity required to power their laptop or desktop, an extension of Dell’s “Plant a Tree for Me” program.
Customer contributions of $2 for a laptop and $6 for a desktop will go toward the planting of trees that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Dell partners with The Conservation Fund and the Carbonfund.org, non-profit organizations that plant trees in sustainably managed reforestation projects.
“Our success in addressing climate change, energy depletion and other global challenges ultimately depends on our ability to empower and inspire the ReGeneration, people of all ages who care about the environment,” said Tod Arbogast, director of sustainable business at Dell. “Programs like ‘Plant a Tree for Me’ provide a simple and tangible way to make a difference.”
Dell launched “Plant a Tree for Me” for customers in January 2007. The company recently joined The Conservation Fund, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other commercial partners in dedicating 158 acres of forestland in East Texas, one of five tree-planting projects funded through the program.
“Climate change and habitat loss are two of the greatest environmental challenges of our time,” said Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund. “Thanks to industry-leading efforts of Dell and samsclub.com, and the generosity of their customers, we are making extraordinary strides to restore native forests that will clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, enhance habitat for wildlife and create new recreation areas that we can all enjoy.”
Environmental Leadership
Dell is committed to becoming the “greenest” technology company on the planet. Last year, the company announced that it would be the first major computer manufacturer to neutralize the carbon impact of its worldwide operations. The company’s carbon intensity (CO2 emissions/revenue) is among the lowest of the Fortune 50.
In September 2007, Dell announced “Plant a Forest for Me,” a program that enables organizations worldwide to share best practices and, as partners, facilitate the planting of trees in sustainably managed reforestation projects. Partners include AMD, ABN AMRO, Ask.com, CGI, Staples, Salesforce.com, Targus and WellPoint.
Dell also offers the industry’s only free recycling program for consumers. In 2006, the company recycled more than 78 million pounds of computer equipment worldwide, a 93 percent increase over 2005. This put Dell ahead of schedule in achieving a goal of recycling 275 million pounds of equipment by 2009.
For more information on “Plant a Tree for Me,” “Plant a Forest for Me,” and Dell’s commitment to become the “greenest” technology company on the planet, visit www.dell.com/earth. To join with the company and thousands of others in lending a voice and protecting the environment, visit www.regeneration.org.
*Service reduces cost and complexities associated with operating system migrations
*Automated process helps speed deployment while mitigating risk
Dell today announced the Dell Client Migration Solution, an integrated set of services and tools that can reduce migration costs by up to 62 percent and desk-side time and labor by up to an estimated 88 percent. Designed for organizations planning an operating system migration or hardware deployment of 2,500 systems or more, Dell’s Client Migration Solution can simplify the process by addressing pervasive challenges such as network utilization, application compatibility and end-user downtime, all while minimizing costs.
“Organizations are evaluating their Windows Vista migration policies and procedures, and as they do so, it will be imperative for them to address all stages of the migration process,” said Matt Healey, research manager, Hardware and Software Support Services, IDC. “Dell has recognized this need and has developed a suite of services to address these needs.”
Based on best practices gleaned from millions of deployments, Dell’s Client Migration Solution includes focused services to help customers determine hardware and application compatibility in their client environment, then seamlessly plan, deploy and manage migrated systems. The solution leverages new patent-pending Dell Automated Deployment technologies that can speed the deployment process, reduce post-migration issues, mitigate risk and eliminate network traffic normally associated with deployments by an estimated 70 percent. Additionally, Dell provides customers with the tools and expertise needed to help better manage ongoing technology refreshes and instruction to ensure support staff and end-users are properly trained.
“Customers are migrating to Windows Vista, and they’ve asked Dell to provide services to simplify the process for them,” said Steve Meyer, vice president, Global Services, Dell. “In response, Dell is delivering a new integrated solution that combines focused, upfront planning with industry-leading processes and tools to streamline setup, minimize onsite and manual intervention, and drive complexity out of the process, helping customers reclaim time and money.”
Dell’s Client Migration Solution is available immediately to customers in the United States, Europe and Canada and is priced according to customers’ unique needs and client environment. The portfolio is available on a limited basis in Latin America and will be made available to Asia-Pacific/Japan later this year. To learn more about Dell Client Migration, please visit www.dell.com/services/deployment.
PowerEdge R300 and T300 perform up to 31 percent better than comparable HP servers; up to 51 percent better than similar IBM servers
High-availability features for increased uptime
3X memory capacity to better handle memory-intensive applications
Small and medium businesses no longer have to sacrifice server performance or reliability for an affordable price. Dell’s new PowerEdge R300 and T300 servers have industry-leading performance, memory and high-availability features previously available only in more expensive systems designed for larger businesses. Available today worldwide, the industry’s highest-performing one-socket quad-core servers2 start at $1,249 for the R300 rack server and $999 for the T300 tower server. More information is available at www.dell.com/poweredge.
“Customers want faster performing systems to run their already taxed computer networks at a price that won’t break the bank,” said Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager, Dell Small and Medium Business. “We listened, and our new R300 and T300 servers deliver the kind of technology innovation our customers care about - more performance and reliability without more cost.”
Superior Performance for SMBs
Using the quad-core Intel Xeon® x5460 processor, the PowerEdge R300 achieves up to 26 percent better performance than the HP DL320 G5p,1 and up to 51 percent over the IBM System X 3250.3 The T300 tower server achieves up to 31 percent better performance compared to the HP ML310 G5 server,4 and up to 51 better performance than the IBM System X 3200.5
The new R300 and T300 servers also help companies better handle memory intensive applications by offering 24GB of memory - three times the memory capacity of competitive one-socket systems. Essential, high-availability features include hot-plug hard drives and redundant power supplies to help increase uptime and prevent loss of data access.
Additionally, the R300 helps provide energy cost savings for customers. It is the industry’s most energy efficient server, delivering the leading performance per watt compared to all currently published SPECpower results.6
“Today, we exclusively rely on energy-efficient, high-performing Dell PowerEdge 2950 rack servers to deliver our flagship enterprise-class hosting solution, the ServInt SuperVPS, to customers,” said Reed Caldwell, founder and CEO of ServInt , a recognized leader in the Virtual Private Server (VPS) marketplace with customers of all sizes in all regions of the world. “Dell’s R300 is a natural step for both the ServInt Enterprise-Class VPS product line, as well as our recently launched Green Initiative that promotes ecologically responsible, sustainable hosting. No other platform we tested gives us the features, reliability, performance or expandability with such a low-voltage footprint. We’re also excited about the small form factor the R300 offers while retaining exceptional scalability.”
Enhanced Business Security and Services
Dell’s PowerEdge R300 and T300 offer built-in security features to help customers better protect their server investments, including: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to strengthen security, enabling better authentication, encryption and protection of critical information;
Internal lock-down USB to reduce risk of data loss and security breaches; and
Locking bezels and a chassis intrusion switch to protect against unauthorized access to system hard drives, peripherals and the control panel.
Dell’s new services portfolio, ProSupport, gives small and medium businesses greater flexibility in choosing support options. These service options, combined with features delivered in the R300 and T300 servers, make it easier for customers to spend less time focusing on information technology and more on productivity and growing their businesses
· Fantastic savings on Flat Panel Monitors Click here
· Save up to 25% on selected Dell projectors Click here
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