Pinboard (guardiantech)

Microsoft and Dell sign patent licensing agreement >> Microsoft

guardiantech — 2014-03-27T09:10:39+00:00

Through this arrangement, Microsoft and Dell have agreed to license each company’s applicable intellectual property related to Android and Chrome OS devices and Xbox gaming consoles. Under the terms of the agreement, they agreed on royalties for Dell’s products running the Android or Chrome platforms and on consideration to Dell for a license for Xbox gaming consoles.

The first part is standard - dozens of Android OEMs pay Microsoft patent fees - but does the second mean Dell is going to make Xboxes?

Michael Dell says he's not taking company back into the phone business >> AllThingsD

guardiantech — 2013-09-13T22:55:43+00:00

Michael Dell has lots of plans for his soon-to-be-privately-held company. But getting back into the mobile phone business is apparently not on the list.
“We’re not getting in the mobile phone business,” Dell said in an interview with CNBC on Friday. Instead, Dell said, the company will look to benefit from the mobile market in other ways. “Every time a new mobile company gets born, they need servers and infrastructure and storage,” Dell told CNBC. “Companies need to protect and secure their data on these mobile devices.”

Significantly, tablets will be in the mix.

Dell's downward spiral: 10 years of failed consumer devices >> The Verge

guardiantech — 2013-09-12T21:43:52+00:00

With style like this, how amazing that Dell wasn't a hit with consumers.

Dell drops $299 Windows RT tablet, cheapest offer now $479 >> ITworld

guardiantech — 2013-08-29T22:12:38+00:00

From mid-August:

Shoppers who tried to buy a Windows RT tablet at Dell's website Friday morning would have seen one listed for US$299. By the end of the day the cheapest tablet came bundled with a keyboard for $479.
Dell made several changes to the RT offers on its website. By Friday evening it had eliminated all the options for a standalone tablet and now only sells the product, called the XPS 10, bundled with a keyboard.
In some ways it bucks a recent trend. Dell has been lowering prices for its Windows RT tablet since May, after the company admitted it was selling poorly. When it was introduced last October, the XPS 10 was priced at $499, and it had dropped to $299 in May.

Two likely reasons: keyboards may make more profit for Dell (so make them non-optional); Windows RT is a car crash.

Dell to axe 1,000-plus call-centre bods, enterprise staff in prep to go private >> The Register

guardiantech — 2013-08-29T18:54:04+00:00

Chris Mellor:

Dell is laying off staff in its enterprise division, The Register understands, as company honcho Michael Dell prepares to take his firm private.
El Reg has heard that Dell is steadily ridding itself of enterprise workers, including senior technologists, strategists, developers, and sales employees, as well as a vice-president.
The tech titan is also, we understand, shedding heads from systems, database, performance and access management biz Quest, which it snapped up for $2.4bn last year. Register sources claimed fresh layoffs are now happening every Wednesday.
And Dell is planning to let go more than 1,000 people at its Mohali call-centre in India - and close that operation down, we're told.

The consumer PC market will implode quicker than anybody thinks >> CITEworld

guardiantech — 2013-08-22T21:26:51+00:00

Matt Rosoff considers the PC figures from Dell, HP and Lenovo:

You can hash the numbers any way you like, but the trends are clear. The PC market is getting crushed by tablets. In fact, I think we've reached a tipping point that will mean the near-total collapse of the consumer PC market within three years. By mid-2016, consumer PC sales will be less than half of where they are today. Probably way less.

Dell reports decent Q2 earnings as company future still looks uncertain >> ZDNet

guardiantech — 2013-08-15T21:37:54+00:00

CFO Brian Gladden glossed over the hubbub, remarking, "In a challenging environment, we remain committed to our strategy and our customers, and we’re encouraged by increasing customer interest in our end-to-end solutions offerings and continued growth in our Enterprise Solutions, Services and Software businesses."

Dell buyout pushed to brink >> WSJ

guardiantech — 2013-07-18T08:02:22+00:00

Dell's $24.4 billion buyout plan was foundering late Wednesday evening, as a group of big investors signaled their intent to vote against a deal that would remove the technology icon from the public markets. The new opposition from Vanguard Group, State Street Corp and BlackRock pushed the deal to a new level of brinkmanship, forcing Michael Dell and his backers to either sweeten the transaction or risk seeing the deal fail.

Dell XPS 11 combines the best of Lenovo's Yoga and Microsoft's Surface >> The Verge

guardiantech — 2013-06-05T22:19:11+00:00

The hinge on the XPS 11 allows the screen to flip nearly a full 360 degrees, turning the workaday laptop into a fun-filled tablet — very much in the same vein as Lenovo's Yoga machine. You can't detach the display, but the sub-15mm thickness with the keyboard included makes this a reasonable device to use in tablet mode even with the keypad still attached. Intelligently, Dell has designed the keyboard so that once the hinge passes 180 degrees, it becomes insensitive to input.

A non-detachable keyboard and a touch-sensitive screen where it functions as a tablet or a notebook? This is just like the tablets of 2001. Keyboard detachability is emerging as a key function - and this hasn't got it. (Thanks @technotrousers for the link.)

Dell replays Windows 8 blame card as PC sales slide - Computerworld

guardiantech — 2013-05-20T20:55:03+00:00

Dell last week again blamed Windows 8 for contributing to a decline in PC sales revenue during the quarter that ended 3 May.
"Windows 8 has been, from our standpoint, not necessarily the catalyst to drive accelerated growth that we had hoped it would be," said Brian Gladden, Dell's chief financial officer, in a call last week with Wall Street analysts to discuss the quarter's financials.

Those results were shocking - profit down 79% to $130m on revenues down 2% to $14bn. That's a 1% margin - the same, as it happens, as HTC in smartphones. But for very different reasons. (Thanks @modelportfolio2003 for the link.)

Mobile Opportunity: The Dell Buyout: Storm Warning for the Tech Industry

guardiantech — 2013-04-24T20:04:39+00:00

Michael Mace:

If you haven’t worked at a PC company, you’ll have trouble understanding how profoundly disturbing the current sales situation is for Windows licensees. The PC companies married themselves to the Microsoft-Intel growth engine years ago. In exchange for riding the Wintel wave, they long ago gave up on independent innovation and market-building. In many ways, they outsourced their product development brains to Microsoft so they could focus on operations and cost control. They trusted Microsoft to grow the market. Microsoft is now failing to deliver on its side of the bargain. Unless there's a stunning turnaround in Windows 8 demand, I think it’s now looking increasingly likely that we’ll see a sustained year over year drop in PC sales for at least several more quarters.
This is an existential shock for the PC companies. It’s like discovering that your house was built over a vast, crumbling sinkhole.
Prior to the PC sales decline, I think Michael Dell probably assumed that his PC business could continue to fund its growth in services for the foreseeable future. He has probably now reconsidered that assumption. If Lenovo continues to grow and the market continues to shrink, Dell’s revenue will drop further, and the company could be in a world of financial trouble a year from now. It’s the sort of trouble that can get a CEO fired even if he does own 15% of the company.

Makes the very good point: if Microsoft is going to give Dell a $2bn loan to go private and compete with other PC makers, do the others get handouts too? (Thanks @slimbowski for the link.)

Dell Inc. >> SEC Filings

guardiantech — 2013-04-01T21:08:11+00:00

Why should you sell your Dell stock to let the company go private? Because, say the directors, there are

fundamental changes in the PC market, including a decline in worldwide revenues for desktop and laptop PCs and lower shipment forecasts for PC products; rapidly declining margins as demand for PC products shifts from higher-margin premium products to lower cost and lower margin products, particularly in emerging markets; significant and increasing competition from efficient, low-cost manufacturers relying primarily on a build-to-stock business model, rather than the build-to-order business model historically used by the Company, and from manufacturers of innovative, higher-margin PC products, which competition could result in reduced profit margins, further loss of market share for the Company’s products and services, or both;
• long-term challenges that are likely to affect PC sales, including a general lengthening of the replacement cycle for PC products, the uncertain adoption of the Windows 8 operating system and unexpected slowdowns in enterprise Windows 7 upgrades, increasing consumer interest in tablets and smartphones, the potential substitution of these products for PC products and the related fact that the Company currently sells tablets only in limited quantities and does not manufacture smartphones.

There are others too, but those are the main ones. (Thanks @rubbernuke for the pointer.)

Dell vs. Dell shareholders - the term sheet >> Fortune

guardiantech — 2013-02-13T21:26:53+00:00

To go private, Dell needs approval from a simple majority of shareholders not named Michael Dell. That works out to just north of 42%. For context, Dell's ten largest outside stockholders hold less than 30% of the company's outstanding shares. That means that the big institutions alone don't have the mathematical muscle to stop this train, but rather are banking on their powers of reputational persuasion (i.e., if the large oppose, the small will follow).

Perhaps not such a done deal after all.

Microsoft's loan to Dell certain to trigger more OEM angst, say analysts >> Computerworld

guardiantech — 2013-02-05T22:19:22+00:00

Microsoft's $2bn loan to Dell, one of its largest computer-making partners, will have an impact on how other OEMs view their Windows ecosystem collaborator, analysts said today.
The extent of that impact, however, is unclear to the experts, although they are certain it will do something to the relationships Microsoft has with others.

Dell said to be in buyout talks with private-equity firms >> Bloomberg

guardiantech — 2013-01-14T21:48:37+00:00

Dell, the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is in buyout talks with private-equity firms, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The shares surged.
The company is discussing going private with at least two firms, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The discussions are preliminary and could fall apart because the firms may not be able to line up the needed financing or resolve how to exit the investment in the future, the people said.

Would going private really help Dell in the long run? What change could private equity (what Mitt Romney used to do) effect there that the company hasn't been doing for years already?

Microsoft Surface software shouldn't be 'Windows', said Dell >> CNET UK

guardiantech — 2012-12-19T21:47:02+00:00

Dell boss Jeffrey Clarke suggested to Microsoft top dog Steve Ballmer that extending the Windows name to tablets was a bridge to far. Clarke reasoned a Windows logo on the back would suggest tablets ran the same software as laptops and computers - when in fact they run a different operating system with fewer features, and only selected apps from the Windows Store.
Microsoft decided instead to keep the brand for tablets, electing to simply present the tablet software as Windows RT. Windows RT is optimised for the low-powered ARM processors found in most tablets, and is presented as a stripped-down version of the full-sized Windows 8 software designed for the powerful Intel chips found in laptops and desktop computers.

So that went well, showing off Dell's ability to influence Microsoft's thinking.

Dell quits smartphone business globally, drops Android >> Forbes

guardiantech — 2012-12-14T23:17:53+00:00

Now in the 5th year of its “transformation,” Dell’s mobile strategy looks very much like it was before its push in the consumer business and the adoption of Google‘s Android system for most of its mobile devices (Streak, Aero, Thunder).
“It’s a content play with Android. Amazon is selling books and Google is making it up with search. So far we couldn’t find a way to build a business on Android,” added [Jeff] Clarke [head of Dell's Consumer Division].

Dell announces new XPS dockable windows tablet and convertible ultrabook >> PCWorld

guardiantech — 2012-11-13T22:40:21+00:00

The XPS Duo 12's unusual screen-flipping design will no doubt remind you of the Inspiron Duo convertible tablet, whose screen also popped out of its keyboard case. Though innovative in its design, the Inspiron Duo didn't last too long in the market, thanks in part to the device's lackluster specs, including a mediocre display and underpowered Atom processor.
The XPS Duo 12 will hopefully overcome those issues by combining the flipping design with Ultrabook specs. Dell's press release highlights the XPS Duo 12's premium materials: an aluminum and carbon fiber chassis plus a Corning Gorilla Glass display.

Answers a later question about where the Windows 8 tablets are. They're folded into Dell designs, to begin with.

Stick a fork in it: Dell is done. >> PandoDaily

guardiantech — 2012-08-11T21:41:32+00:00

Farhad Manjoo:

In a week and a half, Dell will announce its second-quarter earnings results. Expect a bloodbath. In the first quarter, back in May, Dell gave the market a goose egg—analysts had expected Dell’s revenue and earnings to fall from a year ago, but the company slumped way worse than people were guessing it would. Shares tanked, and they haven’t recovered. Analysts aren’t expecting anything stellar this time—Dell said its outlook was weak—but I suspect Dell could deliver another shock, presenting numbers that will begin to confirm a permanent downward trend.
But even if Dell slightly beats the whisper number, its bigger problems will remain: Dell is running out of options.

Dresscode: Blue tie and male >> Elektronista

guardiantech — 2012-05-14T16:02:54+00:00

So here I am at Dell’s huge and very professional summit with founder Michael Dell, top people from Microsoft and Intel, impressive power points, expensive commercials, matching polyester ties and all that jazz, and then the – by Dell chosen – moderator starts to rejoice the lack of women in the room. “The IT business is one of the last frontiers that manages to keep women out. The quota of women to men in your business is sound and healthy” he says. “What are you actually doing here?” he adds to the few women who are actually present in the room.

This may be more complex than it looks. One commenter says that Mads Christensen, the compere, is a Danish comedian, and that his talk was actually ironic and in effect a reproach to the plethora of guys in the room. Others say that Christensen isn't - that he's just a jerk. Can anyone elucidate?

Can Dell's open source XPS Ultrabook steal Apple's thunder? >> Forbes

guardiantech — 2012-05-12T21:25:47+00:00

By "Trefis contributor":

Dell has announced a six-month, open source pilot program aimed at creating an ultrabook suited specifically for web and mobile developers. The Macbook Air and other OSX based machines have become the development environment of choice for a lot of web and mobile developers recently most likely due to software such as iLife, iMovie and other design tools.

Sure, what developers really want is to be able to organise their photos and cut little films. Dell's efforts here are praiseworthy, but iLife and iMovie really aren't the reason why the Macbook Air has succeeded with developers. Try: lightness and SSD.

Incremental change wins Apple big gains >> TidBits

guardiantech — 2012-04-02T16:59:52+00:00

Glenn Fleishman:

Those competing with Apple have to advertise every new device and computer as being substantially different enough to justify a quicker upgrade cycle. If Apple makes $400 from a low-end MacBook Air that might be in use for five years, and Dell makes $50 (after paying Microsoft for Windows) for a low-end laptop, how quickly does Dell need to sell that person another device? During those five years, Apple might get $29 two or three times for updates to Mac OS X; Dell gets nothing from any Windows upgrades. Apple may also now reap additional dollars from Mac App Store purchases, too. Dell? Nothing.

Intriguing argument which implies that Dell has to keep growing even to survive - though of course for Dell having a big installed base to pick from *should* mean it would reach a point where constant renewal of machines guarantees a given revenue and profit.

But maybe that's what's gone wrong. (Fleishman also blogs for The Economist.)

Dell ends smartphone sales in the US >> PCWorld

guardiantech — 2012-03-29T05:32:16+00:00

Dell has stopped selling smartphones in the US as it tweaks its mobile strategy to focus more on emerging markets and higher-margin products. Dell has nixed its last standing Venue and Venue Pro smartphones and no replacements have been announced. The smartphones had run their course, a Dell spokesman said. "Mobility products have shorter lifecycles than laptops and desktops," he said. Dell will introduce more mobile products in the US later this year, but the spokesman didn't say if smartphones will be among them.

This feels like what Dell did with MP3 players, when it thought its heft would let it outdo Apple. Except that in smartphones, the market is far more aggressive and crowded.

It's true: iPads are starting to replace business PCs >> InfoWorld

guardiantech — 2012-03-21T06:26:48+00:00

The survey, conducted last month, is yet another confirmation that no company comes close to matching the iPad in the enterprise. Indeed, the iPad wannabes are barely on the radar. While 84% of the companies that plan to buy a tablet in the next quarter said they will go with Apple's iPad, up from 77% in November, just 8% said they will buy one from the No. 2 brand, Samsung, compared to 10% in the previous survey. But Samsung, a highly diversified company, can better withstand a poor showing in the tablet market than can Hewlett-Packard and Dell. "Those companies need to win a toehold in tablets as PCs become less important, and they're not doing it," [Changewave research director Paul] Carton says. "We're very bearish on them."

Dell sees room to challenge Apple in tablets >> Reuters

guardiantech — 2012-03-19T22:36:37+00:00

Taking Mac and iPad sales together, Apple sold more computers last year than any of the top PC makers. Asked whether he envied Apple's ability to produce such coveted objects, [Dell chief commercial officer Steve] Felice said: "We come at the market in a different way ... We are predominantly a company that has a great eye on the commercial customer who also wants to be a consumer." "In the areas where we come at the market, we think we are a coveted brand."

Coveted: something you yearn to possess or have. OK.

Dell quits netbooks, says 'thin and powerful is where it's at' >> The Verge

guardiantech — 2011-12-16T06:44:05+00:00

"Dell confirmed for us that it is no longer making consumer netbooks (the business-aimed Latitude netbooks are still available on Dell.com). Not only are the Inspiron Minis being put in the grave, but the company confirmed for us that it will not be releasing new netbooks based on Intel's forthcoming Cedar Trail platform. In other words, it is done with the category. "That said, it did clarify that its netbook / tablet hybrid — the Inspiron Duo — continues to sell well, and although it isn't in stock on Dell.com right now, it would available again before the holidays are over." Is anyone keeping a count of the sectors that Dell is abandoning? Android phones, netbooks... but it is a sort of canary in the PC coal mine. If Dell quits it, there's no money to be made there any longer through commoditisation.

Dell drops Streak 7, backs out of Android tablets in US >> Electronista

guardiantech — 2011-12-05T22:56:38+00:00

In October, we linked to V3 who pointed out that Dell was "gearing up to launch Windows 8 devices as Android disappoints". You now can't buy the Streak 7 online, and the Streak 5 has been axed. Dell however "remains committed to the mobility market". As it's not doing Windows Phones, or Android tablets, what's left there exactly? Oh, Windows 8 tablets. Next year. And do read the comments: "the developer community will support it." (As Dell, they expect, won't.)

Dell scaling back CES presence >> AllThingsD

guardiantech — 2011-11-30T22:41:23+00:00

"Dell’s presence at the Consumer Electronics Show the past few years has been hard to miss. This year, it may be hard to find. Sources say the company is scaling back its participation in the annual trade show — drastically." No particular reason given; it has a product - an ultrabook? - to launch, apparently. But the spend is being reined in.

Dell apologises for misleading graphics card advice >> PC Pro

guardiantech — 2011-11-25T21:16:17+00:00

"Dell has apologised for misleading customers after PC Pro highlighted a Help page on the company's website that exaggerated the benefits of a high-end graphics card. "The Dell website showed two identical monitors, the one on the left allegedly using a 'standard graphics card' and the other a 'high-end graphics card'. "The monitor with the lesser graphics chip showed a blurry, washed-out image of the Windows desktop, with the more expensive card delivering a sharper, more vivid picture." So how should Dell have illustrated the better-quality graphics card option?

Dell World: Dell gearing up to launch Windows 8 devices as Android disappoints >> V3.co.uk

guardiantech — 2011-10-13T22:29:48+00:00

"Dell is throwing its weight firmly behind the Windows 8 tablet platform in a bid to challenge the dominance of the Apple iPad 2. Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell, appeared to play down Android in favour of Windows and hinted there would be a number of Microsoft-based products announced soon. "'We are very aligned with Microsoft around Windows 8. You'll hear more about Windows 8 from us and see a wide range of products released,' Dell told journalists during a Q&A; at Dell World 2011 in Texas." That's the Dell which is pulling back from Windows Phone and focussing on Android smartphones.

Michael Dell Advises Hewlett-Packard >> New York Times Bits Blog

guardiantech — 2011-10-05T07:22:15+00:00

"'There are many reasons to stay committed,' said Mr. Dell, who did not need to mention H.P. to make the distinction to the tech-savvy crowd. He said that 5 percent of the world’s microprocessors go into servers and storage and 95 percent go into PCs. The same is true for disk drives and other components, he said."

Dell shrugs off harbingers of PC doom >> FT.com

guardiantech — 2011-09-18T20:51:36+00:00

Subscription required. Extract: "Mr Dell believes we are not yet in a post-PC era.
“'There are a billion and a half PCs in the world and while Gartner change their estimates here and there, they also estimate there will be two billion PCs in the world by 2014. So when I look at that, I think the idea that the PC is no longer here is complete nonsense,' he says.
“'You see PCs, tablets, you see smartphones. But those other devices aren’t necessarily replacing the PCs, so we are very committed to that part of the business, as part of this broader, end-to-end IT solutions company,' he says. PC growth will come mainly from emerging markets, such as China, he says. China is also a big market for Dell’s servers, as a result of deals with big internet companies such as Tencent. 'Around 60% of the Chinese internet runs on Dell,' Mr Dell says.

Middle man: Dell expands on growth plans >> Channel Register

guardiantech — 2011-06-29T21:56:37+00:00

From the annual investors' meeting: ".. while Dell sells to global enterprises, the big, proprietary and Unix systems that these companies deploy in their data centers are not what Dell peddles. So only a portion of the $290bn in sales of hardware, software, and services at global enterprises is available to Dell, and hardly any of the $220bn in consumer spending will go to Dell.
"'The largest part of the business is right in the middle,'explained Dell (the man), and this is where Dell gets 80 per cent of its revenues and 90 per cent of its profits. So you can see why the company is sticking to its focus on the midrange. 'Our competitors do not – or have not been able to – focus on that part of the industry.'"

Another detail: persuading people to buy pre-configured machines and ship instead of flying them, it could save $20 per PC.

Reliability: Desktop PCs >> Which? Technology

guardiantech — 2011-06-14T15:40:47+00:00

Statisticians may like to play with these numbers: "Sample sizes: Novatech (56), Apple (488), Compaq (92), Dell (1224), Packard-Bell (107), Acer (186), Medion (92), Hewlett-Packard (409), Sony (54), Mesh (123)". The Compaq devices must be old-ish (interesting that they're counted separately from HP). Also not clear if this really is just "desktop" computers, or whether it also includes laptops.

Dell XPS 15z review >> Engadget

guardiantech — 2011-05-25T05:15:32+00:00

Promising a new laptop, says Engadget, "Dell even stated that it would have an 'innovative new form factor' of some sort.
"The company neglected to mention it would look like a MacBook Pro.
"This is the Dell XPS 15z, and we're sorry to say it's not a thin-and-light -- it's actually a few hairs thicker than a 15-inch MacBook Pro, wider, and at 5.54 pounds, it weighs practically the same. It is, however, constructed of aluminum and magnesium alloy and carries some pretty peppy silicon inside, and the base model really does ring up at $999. That's a pretty low price to garner comparisons to Apple's flagship, and yet here we are."

A little later it says: "But let's get this out of the way right now: though the XPS 15z most definitely looks like a MacBook Pro and sports similar materials, you'll wind up disappointed if you're expecting the same exacting attention to detail."

Worth reading the review in full for what it does and doesn't do well.

Happy birthday Dell: The beginning of an evolution/revolution >> TG Daily

guardiantech — 2011-05-05T21:32:34+00:00

Y"esterday was Dell’s birthday, which is clearly an interesting time for the company because it is going through a massive transformation.

"The fascinating thing about this transformation is that Dell is going in a direction that is quite atypical of a hardware company; one that technology buyers should like but one that isn’t without risk.
"To facilitate this change, Dell has moved from executing just a few acquisitions to cranking out 8 in about 12 months - becoming one of the most aggressively changing companies in the technology segment."

Intriguing.