Dell traces its origins to 1984

8/7/2019 Dell traces its origins to 1984

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Dell traces its origins to 1984, when Michael Dell created PCs Limitedwhile a student at theUniversity of Texas at Austin. The dorm-room headquartered company sold IBM PC-compatiblecomputers built from stock components. Michael Dell started trading in the belief that by sellingpersonal computer systems directly to customers, PCs Limited could better understandcustomers' needs and provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs.[4]

Michael Dell dropped out of school in order to focus full-time on his fledgling business, aftergetting about $300,000 in expansion-capital from his family.

In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own designthe "Turbo PC", sold forUS$795.[5] PCs Limited advertised its systems in national computer magazines for sale directlyto consumers and custom assembled each ordered unit according to a selection of options. Thecompany grossed more than $73 million in its first year of trading.

The company changed its name to "Dell Computer Corporation" in 1988 and began expandinggloballyfirst in Ireland. In June 1988, Dell's market capitalization grew by $30 million to $80million from its June 22 initial public offering of 3.5 million shares at $8.50 a share.[6] In 1992,For

tune magazine included Dell Computer Corporation in its list of the world's 500 largestcompanies, making Michael Dell the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company ever.[citation needed]

In 1996, Dell began selling computers via its web site, and in 2002, Dell expanded its productline to include televisions, handhelds, digital audio players, and printers. Dell's first acquisitionoccurred in 1999 with the purchase of ConvergeNet Technologies. In 2003, the company wasrebranded as simply "Dell Inc." to recognize the company's expansion beyond computers. From2004 to 2007, Michael Dell stepped aside as CEO, while long-time Dell employee Kevin Rollinstook the helm. During that time, Dell acquired Alienware, which introduced several new items toDell products, including AMD microprocessors. To prevent cross-market products, Dellcontinues to run Alienware as a separate entity but still a wholly owned subsidiary.[7]

Lackluster performance, however, in its lower-end computer business prompted Michael Dell totake on the role of CEO again. The founder announced a change campaign called "Dell 2.0,"reducing headcount and diversifying the company's product offerings. The company acquiredEqualLogic on January 28, 2008 to gain a foothold in the iSCSI storage market. Because Dellalready had an efficient manufacturing process, integrating EqualLogic's products into thecompany drove manufacturing prices down.[8]

In 2009, Dell acquired Perot Systems, a technology services and outsourcing company foundedby H. Ross Perot.

On September 21, 2009, Dell announced its intent to acquire Perot Systems (based in Plano,Texas) in a reported $3.9 billion deal.[9] Perot Systems brought applications development,systems integration, and strategic consulting services through its operations in the U.S. and 10other countries. In addition, it provided a variety of business process outsourcing services,including claims processing and call center operations.[10]


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By 1996 Dell was moving its headquarters to Round Rock.[24] As of January 1996 3,500 peoplestill worked at the then-current Dell headquarters. One building of the Round Rock headquarters,Round Rock 3, had space for 6,400 employees and was scheduled to be completed in November1996.[25] In 1998 Dell announced that it was going to add two buildings to its Round Rockcomplex, adding 1,600,000 square feet (149,000 m2) of office space to the complex.[26]

In 2000 Dell announced that it would lease 80,000 square feet (7,400 m2) of space in the LasCimas office complex in unincorporatedTravis County, Texas, between Austin and West LakeHills, to house the company's executive offices and corporate headquarters. 100 seniorexecutives were scheduled to work in the building by the end of 2000.[27] In January 2001 thecompany leased the space in Las Cimas 2, located along Loop 360. Las Cimas 2 housed Dell'sexecutives, the investment operations, and some corporate functions. Dell also had an option for138,000 square feet (12,800 m2) of space in Las Cimas 3.[28] After a slowdown in businessrequired reducing employees and production capacity, Dell decided to sublease its offices in twobuildings in the Las Cimas office complex.[29] In 2002 Dell announced that it planned to subleaseits space to another tenant; the company planned to move its headquarters back to Round Rock

once a tenant was secured.

[28]

By 2003 Dell moved its headquarters back to Round Rock. Itleased all of Las Cimas I and II, with a total of 312,000 square feet (29,000 m2), for about aseven year period after 2003. By that year roughly 100,000 square feet (9,300 m

2) of that space

was absorbed by new subtenants.[30]

In 2008 Dell switched the power sources of the Round Rock headquarters to moreenvironmentally friendly ones, with 60% of the total power coming from TXU Energy windfarms and 40% coming from the Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy plant operated byWaste Management, Inc.[16]

Dell facilities in the United States are located in Austin, Texas; Nashua, New Hampshire;

Nashville, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Peoria, Illinois; Winston-Salem, NorthCarolina; and Miami, Florida. Facilities located abroad include Penang, Malaysia; Xiamen,China; Chennai, India; Bracknell, UK; Manila, Philippines[31]Chennai, India;[32]Hortolandia,Brazil; d, Poland[33] and Limerick, Ireland.[34]

The US and India are the only countries which have all of Dell's business functions and providesupport globally: Research and Development, manufacturing, finance, analysis, customer care.[35]

[edit] Products

[edit] Scope and brands


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Dell's tagline 'Yours is Here', as seen at their Mall of Asia branch Pasay City, Philippines

The corporation markets specific brand names to different market segments.

Its Business/Corporate class represent brands where the company advertises emphasizes long

life-cycles, reliability, and serviceability. Such brands include:

y OptiPlex (office desktop computersystems)y Vostro (office/small business desktop and notebooksystems)y n Series (desktop and notebook computers shipped with Linux orFreeDOS installed)y Latitude (business-focused notebooks)y Precision (workstation systems and high-performance notebooks),[36]y PowerEdge (business servers)y PowerVault (direct-attach and network-attached storage)y PowerConnect (network switches)y Dell/EMC (storage area networks)y EqualLogic (enterprise class iSCSISANs)

Dell's Home Office/Consumer class emphasizes value, performance, and expandability. Thesebrands include:

y Inspiron (budget desktop and notebook computers)y Studio (mainstream desktop and laptop computers)y XPS (high-end desktop and notebook computers)y Studio XPS (high-end design-focus of XPS systems and extreme multimedia capability)y Alienware (high-performance gaming systems)y Adamo (high-end luxury laptop)

Dell's Peripherals class includes USB keydrives, LCD televisions, and printers; Dell monitorsincludes LCD TVs, plasma TVs and projectors forHDTV and monitors. Dell UltraSharp isfurther a high-end brand ofmonitors.

Dell service and support brands include the Dell Solution Station (extended domestic supportservices, previously "Dell on Call"), Dell Support Center (extended support services abroad),Dell Business Support(a commercial service-contract that provides an industry-certified


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technician with a lower call-volume than in normal queues), Dell Everdream DesktopManagement("Software as a Service" remote-desktop management),[37] and YourTech Team (asupport-queue available to home users who purchased their systems either through Dell's websiteor through Dell phone-centers).

Discontinued products and brands include Axim (PDA; discontinued April 9, 2007),

[38]

Dimension (home and small office desktop computers; discontinued July 2007), Dell DigitalJukebox (MP3 player; discontinued August 2006), Dell PowerApp (application-based servers),and Dell Omniplex (desktop and tower computers previously supported to run server anddesktop operating systems).


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Documents

Dell traces its origins to 1984