![]() ![]() 1 position to HP 2006 and never regained its standing. Customers complained of poor service, and sales slowed as Dell faced a market glut of cheap PCs from other makers. But the Round Rock, Texas, company faltered under CEO Kevin Rollins and saw its first-ever profit decline. Michael Dell stepped down as CEO in 2004, staying on as chairman. IBM managed to reinvent itself during the 1990s when its main business of selling mainframe computers began to suffer as desktop machines grew increasingly powerful. Apple has a smaller share of the computer market but more than makes up for that with its sleek iPods, iPhones and iPads. ![]() is now the world's third-largest PC maker, having fallen behind Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo. ![]() With smartphones booming, PC sales falling 3.5 per cent last year, and tablets expected to outsell laptop computers this year, Dell's old slogan is more likely to be phrased as a question, as in: "Dude, you're getting a Dell?"ĭell Inc. While Dell PCs are still used in offices and homes around the world, the industry has proved unforgiving to those who don't evolve with it. "What Michael Dell was all about was getting products to people faster and more directly and at a lower cost than anyone could," said Forrester Research analyst David Johnson. Dell took orders straight from customers, first by phone and then by Internet, cutting out stores and passing the savings along. In its heyday, its turn-of-the-millennium ad slogan, "Dude, you're getting a Dell," became a pop-culture catchphrase. The company he founded some 29 years ago rose to the top of the world's PC market more than a decade ago. In a statement, Dell himself said little more than that the transformation will "take more time, investment and patience." will have to mine more profitable areas such as technology consulting and business software. "This is a way for him to solidify the way people will look at him and remember him."Īnalysts said Dell Inc. So he takes all of this very personally," Moorhead said. "His name is on the logo and all the buildings. The agreement will allow the company to attempt a turnaround without having to worry about pleasing Wall Street with its earnings.įor Michael Dell, 47, the attempt to retool the company he built is personal, said technology analyst Patrick Moorhead, who runs Moor Insights & Strategy. and take it private may well be the founder's last chance to recapture his former glory. Tuesday's announcement that Michael Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake have struck a $24.4 billion deal to buy publicly traded Dell Inc. Now the PC is getting eclipsed by smartphones and tablet computers, and Dell is struggling to save his company - and his legacy. In the 1980s and '90s, his face appeared on magazine covers, and well before he turned 40, he was a college dropout-turned-billionaire CEO, ranked alongside Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.īut that was a long time ago in the fast-moving world of high technology. Hailed as a young genius, he created the inexpensive, made-to-order personal computer in his University of Texas dorm room and sold it straight to the public. It's easy to forget now, but Michael Dell was the Mark Zuckerberg of his day. ![]() Although he's down to slinging drinks, Ben's taking it in stride, saying "There were times when I made boatloads of money as an actor, but here I can be myself." That doesn't mean he's given up the dream just yet: he's hoping to score big with his band, Whale, which he says has "the green light," but has "decided to take a little time off to record our EP and package ourselves properly." Hm, seems like a perfect opportunity to get back together with Dell, actually - it could use some new music after getting caught using GarageBand's built-in loops in that XPS One teaser.NEW YORK, N.Y. Although the Steven ads were hugely popular and generated tons of buzz (and revenue) for Dell, the company eventually dropped the campaign after Ben got arrested for buying pot in 2003 - shocking no one who actually watched the commercials, but apparently not the message Dell wanted to send the parents fronting the cash for all those machines. Oh, how the mighty have fallen: Ben Curtis, famous just a few years ago as "Steven the Dell Dude," is now a waiter / bartender at Tortilla Flats in New York. ![]()
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