History of Dell Company:Michael Dell founded Dell Computer Corporation, dba PC's Limited, in 1984 while a student

at the University of Texas at Austin. Operating from Michael Dell's off-campus dormitory
room at Dobie Center, the startup aimed to sell IBM PC-compatible computers built from
stock components. Michael Dell started trading in the belief that by selling personal computer
systems directly to customers, PC's Limited could better understand customers' needs and
provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs. Michael Dell dropped
out of school in order to focus full-time on his fledgling business, after getting about $1,000
in expansion-capital from his family.
In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own design the "Turbo PC", sold
for US$795containing an Intel 8088-compatible processor running at a speed of 8 MHz. PC's
Limited advertised the systems in national computer magazines for sale directly to
consumers, and custom assembled each ordered unit according to a selection of options. This
offered buyers prices lower than those of retail brands, but with greater convenience than
assembling the components themselves. Although not the first company to use this model,
Limited became one of the first to succeed with it. The company grossed more than $73
million in its first year of trading.
In 1987, the company dropped the PCs Limited dba to be Dell Computer Corporation and
began expanding globally. The company name better reflected its presence in the business
market, as well as resolved issues with the use of Limited in a company name in certain
countries.The company set up its first international operations in Britain; eleven more
followed within the next four years. In June 1988, Dell Computer's market capitalization
grew by $30 million to $80 million from its June 22 initial public offering of 3.5 million
shares at $8.50 a share. In 1989, Dell Computer set up its first on-site service programs in
order to compensate for the lack of local retailers prepared to act as service centers.
In 1990, Dell Computer tried selling its products indirectly through warehouse clubs and
computer superstores, but met with little success, and the company re-focused on its more
successful direct-to-consumer sales model. In 1992, Fortune magazine included Dell
Computer Corporation in its list of the world's 500 largest companies. Michael Dell became
the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
In 1996, Dell began selling computers via its web site.
In 2002, Dell attempted to expand by tapping into the multimedia and home-entertainment
markets with the introduction of televisions, Dell Axim handhelds, and Dell DJ digital audio
players. Dell has also produced Dell-brand printers for home and small-office use.
In 2003, at the annual company meeting, the stockholders approved changing the company
name to "Dell Inc." to recognize the company's expansion beyond computers.
In 2004, the company announced that it would build a new assembly-plant near WinstonSalem, North Carolina; the city and county provided Dell with $37.2 million in incentive
packages; the state provided approximately $250 million in incentives and tax breaks. In July,
Michael Dell stepped aside as Chief Executive Officer while retaining his position as
Chairman of the Board. Kevin Rollins, who had held a number of executive posts at Dell,
became the new CEO.

In 2005, the share of sales coming from international markets increased, as revealed in the
company's press releases for the first two quarters of its fiscal 2005 year. In February 2005
Dell appeared in first place in a ranking of the "Most Admired Companies" published by
Fortune magazine. In November 2005 BusinessWeek magazine published an article titled "It's
Bad to Worse at Dell" about shortfalls in projected earnings and sales, with a worse-thanpredicted third-quarter financial performance a bad omen for a company that had routinely
underestimated its earnings. Dell acknowledged that faulty capacitors on the motherboards of
the Optiplex GX270 and GX280 had already cost the company $300 million. The CEO,
Kevin Rollins, attributed the bad performance partially to Dell's focus on low-end PCs.
In 2006, Dell purchased the computer hardware manufacturer Alienware. Dell Inc.'s plan
anticipated Alienware continuing to operate independently under its existing management.
Alienware expected to benefit from Dell's efficient manufacturing system.
On January 31, 2007, Kevin B. Rollins, CEO of the company since 2004, resigned as both
CEO and as a director, and Michael Dell resumed his former role as CEO. Investors and
many shareholders had called for Rollins' resignation because of poor company performance.
At the same time, the company announced that, for the fourth time in five quarters, earnings
would fail to reach consensus analyst estimates.
In August 2005, Dell became the subject of an informal investigations by the U.S. SEC. In
2006, the company disclosed that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
had subpoenaed documents related to the company's financial reporting dating back to 2002.
The company delayed filing financial reports for the third and fourth fiscal quarter of 2006,
and several class-action lawsuits were filed.Dell Inc's failure to file its quarterly earnings
report could have subjected the company to de-listing from the NASDAQ,but the exchange
granted Dell a waiver, allowing the stock to trade normally. In August 2007, the Company
announced that it would restate its earnings for fiscal years 2003 through 2006 and the first
quarter of 2007 after an internal audit found that certain employees had changed corporate
account balances to meet quarterly financial targets. The SEC investigation was ongoing as of
April 2010, and the Company announced that some ex-employees might face civil action
from the SEC.
On March 1, 2007, the company issued a preliminary quarterly earnings report showing gross
sales of $14.4 billion, down 5% year-over-year, and net income of $687 million (30 cents per
share), down 33%. Net earnings would have declined even more if not for the effects of
eliminated employee bonuses, which accounted for six cents per share. NASDAQ extended
the company's deadline for filing financials to May 4.

Vision of Dell Company:Its the way we interpret the world around us our customers needs, the future of technology,
and the global business climate.

Mission of Dell Company:To be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best
customer experience in markets we serve.

Marketing Mix:Product:Dells products should offer tangible and intangible benefits to its customer segments. New
products and services can offer significant advantage and choice to the customers. They can
also provide increased loyalty and brand image for the organization, which is needed by Dell
in order to ensure that it can secure its future.

Price:Dells pricing strategies should not exclusively focus on lower prices. But it candevise ways
to find products and services that are innovative but at low prices. In other services, the
organization needs to have clear choices so that it is able to achieve itscritical targets in a
proficient manner.

Place:Dell should focus on online commerce as the means to reduce its costs. This canhelp the
organization to offer an online business model that offers convenience,satisfaction, and
excellence for the customers.

Promotion:Social media is another way to promote its products and services. Moreover, theInternet
should remain the main medium for the success of the organization. The use of different
promotional strategies over the Internet and social networking sites will help the organization
to attain strategic leverage within a short span of time.

People:People refer to all people directly or indirectly involved in the consumption of a service.
Example employees or other consumers.

Physical Evidence:Physical Evidence that related to the environment in which the service is delivered, and the
tangibles that help to communicate and perform the service and process.
Process:Process is the delivery and operating systems of procedures, mechanisms and flow of
activities which services are consumed.

Major Competitors for Dell:

Hewlett Packard
Apple Inc.
Lenovo
Acer Inc.
Samsung

 Sony
Asus
IBM
Compaq
Toshiba

Challenges faced by Dell:Dell Inc. has long-term disadvantages in a tablet and cloud world as Dell is not focused on
tablets and is well behind Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) in developing a full cloud
stack, Jefferies said in a note to clients.
We believe tablets are cannibalizing consumer notebooks and are the biggest driver in the
deterioration in Dells consumer notebook shipments. We see cloud based services as
increasing the velocity of change within the technology sector forcing more rapid innovation
and deployments, said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies.
Despite near-term benefits from falling PC component prices and the enterprise PC refresh
cycle, we believe Dell has longer-term disadvantages in a tablet and cloud world. In contrast
to HP, we see Dells 3-year forward margins below where they are today, Misek added.
Misek said Dell is significantly behind HP in investing in a full stack for the cloud with holes
primarily in software and networking. HP is stronger than Dell in software, but he thinks HP
could make a large software acquisition to buttress that area.
In recent years, HP has spent $6.7 billion on software acquisitions while Dell has only spent
$150 million. Without vertical integration, Dell will be dependent on partners who may have
differing release and innovation schedules.
Misek said his 2011 industry forecast for branded PC shipments is up 2 percent, at the low
end of consensus growth of 2 percent to 4 percent. He expects tablets to cannibalize more
enterprise notebooks as getting into 2012.
Misek believes Dell lowered consumer PC research and development (R&D) at a time when
the consumerization of technology within the enterprise is taking off. Additionally, Dell will
be mostly reliant on original design manufacturer (ODM) partners for tablet and device
innovation, causing a potential gaping hole in the portfolio.
Dell is moving quite slowly into tablets after a few new product failures the last few years
(e.g., smartphones, Dell Streak). On the hardware side, Dells reliance on ODMs makes it
unlikely to have a compelling form factor before 2012 and will make it difficult for the
company to differentiate, Misek said.
On the software side, Dell will likely support Android and Windows. Not having its own
operating system saves on R&D but also contributes toward a lack of differentiation and
hampers margin potential going forward, Misek noted.

He said cloud is a challenge for servers and services. Cloud build-outs should help near-term
server shipments but could hurt in longer term as utilization rates improve. He views
consumer cloud services as this decades new iTunes and enterprise cloud services as the next
iteration of IT outsourcing.

Strategy of new entrants:Dells Entry in India

Dell International started in India about seven or eight years back by opening a customer
contact center at Bangalore in 2001. In 2003, the second contact center was opened at
Hyderabad. The company operates its services from four centers based at Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Gurgoan. Dell started in Bangalore providing customer
support to English speaking countries and later also began providing technical support,
procurement of financial back office and Knowledge process outsourcing. After the U.S.,
Dell India is the second biggest centre with 13,000 employees. The strategic importance
of India to Dell is evident from the fact that India was one among three locations (the
other two being US and UK) where Dells Latitude E series and Precision notebooks were
launched.
Dells new retail strategy and Direct-only model
Dells innovative direct- sales model with good sales growth had been successful until the
mid-2000s when the companys profits and share prices began dropping considerably.
Dell was selling PCs directly to customers by phone and online. On May 24, 2007, Dell
disclosed its plans to sell PCs in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico through Wal-Mart and
Sams Club retail stores. This announcement came soon after Michael Dell returned as
CEO replacing Rollins.

In India, as part of the retail initiative, Dell tied up with Tata Croma (the Tata-owned
electronics retail chain) in July 2008 and with select Staples stores. By the end of 2008,
Dell planned to increase its presence to100 Indian cities by increasing its channel
partners. In October 2008, Dell announced the opening of the first Dell exclusive stores in
India at New Delhi and Coimbatore. Dell also tied up with 600 systems integrators all
over the country who could take orders on its behalf.

Present Problems:Financial mismanagement:

The driving force behind the special committee seemed to be less that Michael Dell
wanted to buy Dell, and more that Dell management was serially incapable of accurately
forecasting company performance. For example, on August 21 the company reported
quarterly earnings that were around $300 million less than internal management
projections. Overall, Dells revenue came in significantly below management projections
for seven straight quarters and, save for one quarter, below consensus analyst estimates.
Things got so bad that, at one point, the special committee asked Boston Consulting
Group which already was advising on strategic alternatives to provide independent
financial analysis of the companys prospects.

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strength:

Worlds largest PC maker.

One of the best known brands in the world.

First PC maker to offer next-day, on-site product service.

Direct to customer business model. Uses latest technology.

Dell has remarkably low operating cost relative to revenue because it cuts out the
retailer and supplies directly to the customers.

Dells Direct Model approach enables the company to offer direct relationships with
customers such as corporate and institutional customers.

Dells direct customer allows it to provide top-notch customer service before and after
the sale.

Each Dell system is built to order to meet each customers specifications. Reliability,
Service and Support.

Dell boasts a very efficient procurement, manufacturing and distribution process

allowing it to offer customers powerful systems at competitive prices.

Dell is able to introduce the latest relevant technology compared to companies using
the indirect distribution channels.

Dell is not a manufacturer; Components are made by the suppliers and Dell assembles
the computers using relatively cheap labor. The finished goods are then dropped off with the
customer by courier. Dell has total command of the supply chain.

Weakness:

A huge range of products and components from many suppliers from various
countries.

Computer maker and not the computer manufacturer, making DELL unable to switch
supply.

Dell lacked solid dealer / retailer relationships.

No propriety technology

Not attracting the college student segment of the market. Dells sales revenue from
educational institutions such as colleges only accounts for a merely 5% of the total.

Dells focus on the corporate and government institutional customers somehow

affected its ability to form relationships with educational institutions.

Customers just cant buy Dell as simply as other brands because each product is
custom-built according to their specifications and this might take days to finish.
Opportunities:-

Diversification strategy by introducing many new products to its range.

Personal computers are becoming a necessity now more than ever. Customers are
getting more and more educated about computers. Second-time buyers would most likely
avail of Dells custom-built computers because as their knowledge grows, so do their need to
experiment or use some additional computer features.

The internet also provides Dell with greater opportunities since all they have to do
now is to visit Dells website to place their order or to get information.

Since Dell does not have retail stores, the online stores would surely make up for its
absence. It is also more convenient for customers to shop online than to actually drive and do
purchase at a physical store.
Threats:-

Competitive rivalry that exists in the PC market globally.

New entrants to the market pose potential threats.

The threat to become outmoded is a pulsating reality in a computer business.

Price difference among brands is getting smaller.

Dells Direct Model attracts customers because it saves cost. Since other companies
are able to offer computers at low costs, this could threaten Dells price-conscious growing
customer base.

With almost identical prices, price difference is no longer an issue for a customer.
They might choose other brands instead of waiting for Dells customized computers.