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[[Image:LagosAirport.jpg|thumb|Lagos International Airport, Ikeja]]
{{Infobox_Company |
company_name = Dell Inc.|
company_logo = [[Image:Delllogotrans.png|150px|Dell Logo]] |
company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ([[NASDAQ]]: '''[http://quotes.nasdaq.com/asp/SummaryQuote.asp?symbol=DELL&selected=DELL DELL]''')|
company_slogan = Get More out of Now|
foundation = [[1984]]|
___location = [[Round Rock, TX]]|
key_people = [[Michael Dell]], Chairman <br> [[Kevin Rollins]], President & CEO|
num_employees = 53,000|
revenue = [[image:green up.png]]$49.205 billion [[United States dollar|USD]] ([[2004]])|
industry = [[Computer hardware]]|
products = [[Desktop computer|Desktops]]<br>[[Servers]]<br>[[Laptops]]<br>[[Peripherals]]|
homepage = [http://www.dell.com/ www.dell.com]
}}
[[Image:Locator Map Ikeja-Nigeria.png|thumb|250px|Location of Ikeja in Nigeria]]
'''Dell, Inc.''' {{nasdaq|DELL}} is a [[computer hardware | computer-hardware]] manufacturer based in [[Round Rock, Texas]]. The marketplace perhaps associates Dell Computer most with the [[personal computer]]s it designs, manufactures and sells for home and office use, but Dell also operates in the [[enterprise]] computing market with [[server]]s, [[data storage device]]s, [[network switch]]es and [[computer cluster]] lines. [[Personal digital assistant]]s, [[computer software|software]] and [[peripheral]]s (including [[computer printer | printer]]s) round out Dell's product offerings.
'''Ikeja''' is a suburb of the city of [[Lagos]] and the capital of [[Lagos State]]. The [[Murtala Mohammed International Airport]] is located there. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980,s, it used to be a well planned, clean and quiet residential environment
[[As of 2005]] Dell, Inc. had become one of the world's most visible [[company | companies]]. In [[February]] of [[2005]], Dell appeared in first place in a ranking of the "Most Admired Companies" published by [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune Magazine]].
with shopping malls, phamarcies and government reservation areas.
Ikeja is also home to the [[Femi Kuti]] Africa Shrine. The Africa Shrine is a renowned live music venue.
It is also home to the very popular "COMPUTER VILLAGE" (A typical unplanned, disorganized and unsafe commericial environment )market, where all types of computers and accessories are sold. Known throughout Nigeria almost all computers used in Nigeria are bought there.However the constant presence of street touts and other unsavoury characters whose presence has made the environment not only dangerous but chaotic.
==History==
An explosion in the Lagos Army Barracks on [[27 January]] [[2002]] caused fires. Many fleeing people were drowned in a canal when a bridge collapsed in the stampede. The official death toll is 700 people. Much of Ikeja was kept intact, however.
[[Michael Dell]] had his first encounter with a computer at the age of 15, when he broke down a brand new [[Apple Computer|Apple]] computer and rebuilt it, just to see if he could. When he enrolled at the [[University of Texas at Austin]], he intended to become a [[physician]]. However, during his [[freshman]] year, he dropped out of college to become a full-time [[entrepreneur]]. He founded a company (under the name "PCs Limited") while still at the University of Texas at Austin in [[1984]]. The company became successful, so Dell, at the age of nineteen, started trading full-time.
A disaster fund was created to provide for those displaced in the tragedy. The government provided food, clothing, shelter and health care. The official number of displaced people was put at 20 000.
Dell came up with an idea to build and sell computers, and, without knowing it, pioneered a new way of doing [[business]]. In [[1985]], Dell's company produced the first computer of its own design (the Dell Turbo), which contained a fast [[Intel 8088]] processor running at a speed of 8 megahertz. Early on, Dell had a [[vision]] to focus on making quality products but also felt driven by a vision of revolutionizing the way of conducting [[commerce]]. Instead of focusing intently on a product, Dell shifted his focus from medicine to the customer. His direct-to-consumer approach quickly bore fruit and success ensued as he grossed more than $6 million in his first year of trading.
Ikeja like other Lagos municipalities has suffered from neglect, a lack of planning and over concentration of disorganized commercial activities (which include street trading)
Dell had always demonstrated success in direct-to-consumer marketing — purposefully eliminating third-party retail chains. Because of this, he could pass savings to his customers.
{{Nigeria-geo-stub}}
In [[1987]], PCs Limited became the "Dell Computer Corporation". In the same year it set up its first on-site-service programs. Because Michael Dell did not have a [[store]], he lacked a ___location for people to bring their computers in for service, so he required people to go directly to the people for repairs. In 1991 Dell Computers tried selling their products indirectly through warehouse clubs and computer superstores. The attempt failed miserably but Dell, a quick learner, realised his limitations in wholesaling: “I’ve simply learned from experience that a company can grow too fast. You have to be careful about expanding in business because if you get into too many too quickly, you won’t have the expertise and the infrastructure to succeed,” Dell said to Success magazine in [[1999]].
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In [[1992]], ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' magazine included Dell Computer Corporation in its list of the world's [[Fortune Global 500 | 500]] largest companies.
[[Category:Cities in Nigeria]]
In 1993, Michael Dell re-invented his business model, conceptually segmenting his perceived potential markets into several distinct parts, which he labelled: home-office, small business, education, government and large business/healthcare.
[[Category:Nigerian state capitals]]
[[de:Ikeja]]
In [[1999]] Dell overtook [[Compaq]] to become the largest seller of personal computers in the [[United States of America]]. In [[2002]], Dell lost this position to [[Hewlett-Packard]], which acquired [[Compaq]] in 2002. In [[2003]], Dell again regained the lead.
[[pl:Ikeja]]
More recently, Dell has attempted to expand by tapping into the multimedia and home entertainment markets with the introduction of Dell [[Television|TVs]], Dell Handhelds and Dell Digital Jukeboxes. Dell has also recently gone into printing, providing both home and small-office printers (though retailers do not stock Dell printer cartridges: end-users must order them from Dell Inc.).
To recognize the company's expansion beyond computers, the stockholders approved changing the company name to "Dell, Inc." at the annual company meeting in [[2003]].
Dell has rolled out its direct [[sales]] model in all the major international markets, and has achieved rapid growth in market share in most of them. In [[2004]], 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.
[[Dell International Services]] functions as a support division of Dell.
In [[2004]], [[Kevin Rollins | Kevin B. Rollins]] became Dell's chief executive officer. On [[December 22]], [[2004]], the company announced that it would build a new assembly plant near [[Winston-Salem, 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. [http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031779834649]
==Criticism==
Dell Inc. has sometimes received criticism for the large amount of [[software]] included on its systems: some users regard a great deal of it as [[spyware]]. Some customers accuse the company of making computers with cheap and unreliable parts.
[[Consumer group]]s have also criticized Dell Inc. for treating consumers unfairly. For example, they have accused its [[customer service]] of helping [[business]]es faster than individual customers. Customer service critics target Dell Inc.'s [[outsourcing]] practices, specifically involving [[India]], claiming they contribute to communication problems between the company and its customers. Dell Inc. has also had numerous criticisms from the [[Internet]] community for not offering [[AMD]]-based systems, having faulty hardware (most common complaints relate to [[hard drive | hard-drive]] failures, with repeated occurrences even after sending the [[computer]]/[[hard drive]] in for repair), failing to facilitate upgrading hardware (almost all non-Dell-certified/branded hardware), and the generic [[monopoly]] complaints from the Internet/[[Build Your Own]] communities. Dell also uses [[proprietary]] parts, resulting in certain components like the power-supply and [[motherboard]] not fitting or not working at all, and sometimes frying the system if users install different, non-proprietary parts. Dell [[quality]] can also suffer due to those (sometimes inferior) parts, as well as due to [[assembly line | assembly-line]] deficiencies. Workers have less than 5 seconds generally to insert a [[Peripheral Component Interconnect | PCI]] card in its slot, and to screw it in. Dell has also been accused of marketing with [[Bait and switch]] tactics and conspiring with its Financial unit to offer zero percent financing, only to deny the offer to customers after the return period is over.
==Products and services==
===Brands===
[[Image:Dell dimension.JPG|thumb|200px|A typical [[Dell Dimension]] desktop PC, circa 2004]]
Dell markets its products under many brand names, such as:
* [[Dell OptiPlex|OptiPlex]] - office desktop systems
* [[Dell Dimension|Dimension]] - consumer desktop systems
* [[Dell Latitude|Latitude]] - commercially-focussed [[laptop]]s
* [[Dell Inspiron|Inspiron]] - consumer [[laptop]]s
* [[Dell Precision|Precision]] - high-perfomance office desktop systems and [[laptop]]s
* [[Dell PowerEdge|PowerEdge]] - larger corporate [[server]]s
* [[Dell PowerVault| PowerVault]] - storage-oriented hardware: tape arrays and disk arrays
* [[Dell XPS | XPS]] - gaming gear
* [[Dell Axim|Axim]] - Pocket PCs
The corporation markets certain brand names to different [[market segment|consumer segments]]. It typically sells the OptiPlex, Latitude, and Precision names to mid and large [[business]] customers, where the company's advertising emphasizes long [[technology lifecycle | life-cycle]]s, reliability and serviceability. The Dimension, Inspiron, and XPS brands have an orientation towards consumers, students, and [[small office/home office | small home office]] environments, emphasizing value, performance and expandability.
Dell recently re-introduced the [[Dell XPS]] brand to target the lucrative [[computer games | gaming]] market. [[Dell XPS]] desktop systems use silver rather than the black cases found on newer Dell PCs.
===Software and operating systems===
Dell currently ships [[Windows XP]] as the [[operating system]] for most of its new computers, but it also offers [[Red Hat Linux|Red Hat]] and [[SUSE]] for servers. Certain computers get sold "bare-bones" with a [[FreeDOS]] disk included in the box. On Dell's Windows machines, the manufacturer bundles a large amount of software. Some have accused Dell of shipping [[spyware]] and claim that its [[technical support]] team have instructions not to support its de-installation.
===Non-computer products===
Dell has expanded into non-computer products, including the [[Dell Digital Jukebox]] ("Dell DJ") (a portable [[digital audio player]]), [[Keydrive|USB keydrives]], [[Liquid crystal display television|LCD televisions]], [[Pocket PC]]s, and printers.
===Support===
Dell [[outsourcing|outsources]] much of its technical support work to the [[India]]n company [[Infosys]], which also handles outsourced work from other [[multinational corporation|multinationals]].
==Corporate activity==
===Financial information===
Dell incorporated as a [[Texas]] corporation in 1984 with a capitalization of US$ 1000, the minimum allowed by Texas law. Dell stock trades on the [[Nasdaq]] stock exchange in [[New York]] under the symbol DELL. As of [[31 December]] [[as of 2004 | 2004]] the company had a market capitalisation of $104.69 billion.
In its fiscal year ended [[28 January]] [[2005]] Dell made a net profit of $3.32 billion on revenue of $49.2 billion. These figures represent 26% and 19% growth respectively over the previous fiscal year.
===Direct Sales===
Dell sells all its products, both to the consumer and to corporate customers, using a direct sales model. Dell neither operates retail stores nor sells products through other retailers or resellers. Dell Inc. does, however, showcase its consumer-oriented products at kiosks in major [[shopping mall | mall]]s. The sales staff at the kiosk may assist customers in ordering a product for shipment to their home.
The Dell direct [[business model]], which eliminates the middleman, has a reputation for its speed of sale-to-delivery of the company's products. Dell builds computers to order and this keeps its [[inventory]] costs low. Customers pay for product items before Dell builds those items: this gives Dell a negative [[cash conversion cycle]].
===Advertising===
Dell [[advertisement|advertises]] heavily on television, on the [[Internet]], in [[magazines]] and in [[newspapers]], using constant "special offers" to encourage sales.
A popular, widely parodied television and print ad campaign in the USA in the early 2000s featured young actor [[Ben Curtis (actor)|Ben Curtis]] playing the part of "Steven" - a cocky, and lightly mischievous blond-haired kid, who comes to the assistance of bereft computer purchasers. Each television advertisement usually ended with Steven's telltale phrase: "Dude, you're gettin' a DELL!"
During the past few years, Dell commercials have featured three "Dell interns" who learn about the company and show off Dell products, services and employees.
===Diversity===
Dell received a 100% rating in the third (2004) Corporate Equality Index released by the [[Human Rights Campaign]] group to evaluate gender-preference practices of commercial bodies in the United States of America.
==External links==
*[http://www.dell.com/ Dell Computer]
**[http://www.dell.ca/ Dell Canada]
**[http://www.dell.co.uk/ Dell UK]
*[http://www.imno.org/articles.asp?qid=125&sid=18 IMNO Interviews Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell]
*[http://www.sixsigmacompanies.com/blog/2005/02/dell_inc.html Dell Business Process Improvement]- Information on the use of [[Six Sigma]] in Dell's [[Business Process Improvement | BPI]] Program
* '''Rumor''' of [http://oppressive.net/dell hardware keyloggers] in Dell laptops
===Data===
*[http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/13/13193.html Yahoo! - Dell Inc. Company Profile]
*Dell Inc appears on [http://www.yellowikis.org/wiki/index.php/Dell Yellowikis].
[[Category:Computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Fortune 500 companies]]
[[Category:Computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies traded on NASDAQ]]
[[Category:Companies based in Texas]]
[[Category:Portable_Audio_Player_Manufacturers]]
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