Why aren't there any good deals from Dell??? What's your take on it...

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RavinDJ

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 9, 2002
Messages
4,448
Why aren't there any good deals from Dell??? What's your take on it...

Their "End of Quarter" is about to happen on Oct. 31st... right?

So, what's up? Are they doing really well this quarter or really poorly?
 
Severe reduction in competition in the US marketplace ... Dell no longer has to compete as much as they used to on price, since there are so few PC makers still playing in the retail market.
 
if i recall a month or two back dell made a press release stating they woudl no longer be a "budget" computer retailer or some such, as in going for high end crowd or something.


basically meaning they wouldnt have as many sales:p
 
Yeah I think they changed their business plan or something
They won't offer as many deals/budget systems because they don't make much profit from it, and they only have to increase support due to the extra sales. Also I think they want to increase their reputation or something.
 
Worminater said:
if i recall a month or two back dell made a press release stating they woudl no longer be a "budget" computer retailer or some such, as in going for high end crowd or something.


basically meaning they wouldnt have as many sales:p
Click to expand...


QFT
 
their so called "XPS experience".... though i hope the DELF game comes back

i mean, they can still do some discounts on their HIGH END products right?

hope so
 
I think it's because they're doing well against earnings estimates, so they don't have to cut prices in order to move merchandise. If they have a weak quarter, then you'll see the cupons come back.
 
Asian Dub Foundation said:
i mean, they can still do some discounts on their HIGH END products right?
Click to expand...
Yes, I believe so. Not sure if they'll be as good as they were though. We'll have to wait and see :)
 
But none of this stuff is really a direct reason why they wouldn't run end-of-quarter sales. It has to do with keeping a high inventory turnover as well as moving old product when new stuff's coming in. Computers aren't exactly "perishable", but they are when you think about it in terms of obsolescence.

They probably *are* reducing the number of sales as well as the amount of discount, but I don't think it'll be by too much.
 
Finger said:
But none of this stuff is really a direct reason why they wouldn't run end-of-quarter sales.
Click to expand...

Huh? Why isn't my theory about good enough profits a direct reason why they're not running end-of-quarter sales? If they've already made their income numbers and don't have excess inventory or production capacity, why would they cut prices?
 
mikeblas said:
Huh? Why isn't my theory about good enough profits a direct reason why they're not running end-of-quarter sales? If they've already made their income numbers and don't have excess inventory or production capacity, why would they cut prices?
Click to expand...
Maybe it is a reason. Nobody here has any idea how their quarter is shaping up. Their fiscal year ends after the next quarter at the end of January so if they need to boost sales for the entire fiscal year there might be better deals then. IF they need to do that.

Check out Dell's stock price for the last 6 months. It took a hit in August after their Q2 numbers were released. It's only 30 cents above the 52-week low now so you may be right. Think they want another hit like that? You could always buy stock if you think they're having a good quarter and it will go up. :) OTOH look at how it lost $2 in October alone. That would indicate the market doesn't think they're going to report a good quarter at all. Who knows?

I think there will be more LCD deals coming up. They simply must have new models ready to roll soon. The current crop is about a year old now and becoming non-competitive in terms of specs (like response time). There is also a projected 6% worldwide GLUT of LCD panels that will happen soon and continue throughout 2006. That will drive LCD prices down too. I wouldn't be surprised - and this is only a guess - to see the current 30-35% discounts on their popular LCD monitors turn into 50% discounts before the end of the year. That's just a guess and based on the fact that they have to get rid of their current inventory so they can start selling the new stuff. Nothing to do with quarterly sales at all.
 
Worminater said:
if i recall a month or two back dell made a press release stating they woudl no longer be a "budget" computer retailer or some such, as in going for high end crowd or something.


basically meaning they wouldnt have as many sales:p
Click to expand...
Someone who used to work for Dell posted in that thread as said this wasn't the case. He said that Dell was just getting out of the really cheap $200 POS computer business so that they wouldn't have to support cheaply made budget computers. And that it didn't mean the deals were going to disapear.

They're just preparing prices for x-mas "sales", so people think they're getting a good deal when they're really being bent over.
 
djskankho said:
They're just preparing prices for x-mas "sales", so people think they're getting a good deal when they're really being bent over.
Click to expand...


QFT

It always happens. Run up the prices before "Black Friday" so you can cut them and still make 10% over normal markup. :(

 
cold solder said:
Maybe it is a reason. Nobody here has any idea how their quarter is shaping up.
Click to expand...

I do. My idea is that their quarter is going well, since they're not pushing as many cupons or discounts lately.

It's not like there haven't been any deals lately; there's been some great discounts on the LCDs, even one equalling the lowest price for the 2405FPW.
 
There are still good deals available from dell, both new and in the outlet. Other deal boards have much higher volumes of posts so maybe you should check other boards.
 
Michael Dell is in the top ten of Forbe's most richest people in America so he doesnt need to give out any good deals. :p
 
I Think Dell is playing a dangerous game. Their Support & Service have sunk to the lowest levels they have ever had, yet they are banking on making more high end sales.

Its my understanding that when a company has poor service and support they rely on price was the attractive feature of the product to draw in customers. With high end equipment sales you rely on high quality service and support to keep your customers.

Couple that with the fact that a large portion of high end buyers "roll their Own" and you have a recipie for problems.

Although it is a quiet wisper now, the "What ever you do, dont buy a Dell" phrase is gaining strength.
 
I'm saving my money for the day after Christmas or weeks after Christmas when they need to boost sales :D. Thats my favorite time to shop. You get things dirt cheap.

BTW They're Dell

They don't need to lower prices. Not when you are king

Dont give me wrong i fix tons of dells everyday part of the reason is their market.

They market to the people that know nothing about computers.
They bundle antivirus that runs out after 3 months.
And you get a bunch of idiots say "My internet doesn't work" My computer dont work

The new XPS series kinda has me excited.


New Dell slogan lol

Dell we put the idiot into electronics.
 
I'm actually really enjoying peoples' mishmashed, half-assed attempts to explain supply chain management, customer relationship managament, economics, and marketing.

Keep it up.
 
hikeskool said:
I'm actually really enjoying peoples' mishmashed, half-assed attempts to explain supply chain management, customer relationship managament, economics, and marketing.

Keep it up.
Click to expand...

Care to share your insights, then? Or are you here just to generate heat and not light?
 
im hoping they just have some good deals around xmas. i want a 2405FPW, hopefully this xmas season I can get one for around $700, ive seen them for $775, just dont have the cash right now.
 
hikeskool said:
I'm actually really enjoying peoples' mishmashed, half-assed attempts to explain supply chain management, customer relationship managament, economics, and marketing.

Keep it up.
Click to expand...

Whats your theory Mr. Greenspan?
 
TheBluePill said:
Whats your theory Mr. Greenspan?
Click to expand...
His theory is dictatorship

Tell everyone they know nothing... Kill all the PC makers for one ungodly
computer race

We'll call him Ditler Dell + Hitler
 
When Dell didn't meet last quarters profit expectations they said they were going to cut back on the deals.

If Dell isn't going to run great deals, I don't see why anyone would buy their computers. What would be the reason? To listen to someone from India, read the Dell website to you?
 
BladeVenom said:
When Dell didn't meet last quarters profit expectations they said they were going to cut back on the deals.
Click to expand...
Ya, they had announced it more or less a few weeks ago. Heck people even posted that same news here in the deal forum.
 
Must just be a consumer trend with Dell, if anything. During their EOQ 2 weeks ago I did some ordering for work through our Dell rep. Never got such good deals, and I was able to get more out of them each time I had to requote. For instance...$1400 off our online quote for a poweredge. $300 each off a couple laptops from our online quote. And thats already after the online quote was adjusted for our K-12 discounts. And everything shipped within 2 days, even though they were all custom. Our rep told us specifically that it was EOQ and anything goes.
 
BladeVenom said:
So I guess cutting back on good deals wasn't such a great idea.
Click to expand...
On the contrary, it probably had something to do with it. Discounts eat up profit.

Discounts are a double edged sword, personally i'd say they do a lot more good than bad but i'm no michael dell.
 
I got a good deal last night. Used a $500 off coupon on a 700M. Can't complain about that.
 
Raines8416 said:
im hoping they just have some good deals around xmas. i want a 2405FPW, hopefully this xmas season I can get one for around $700, ive seen them for $775, just dont have the cash right now.
Click to expand...

ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!
 
This means home-built computers will gain even more strength... or at least I can charge my friends more when I build a system for them :D If this is a short term fluke from Dell, well -- then I guess I'll take advantage of the deals again once they start back up!
 
I was a retail analyst in my former life. It's not uncommon (especially for big-box stores) to keep pricing tight during the holiday season. You'll notice Dell is doing more TV ads to get the Christmas shoppers buying and those shoppers aren't always looking for a deal.

Dell isn't a category killer but they are heading that way so I am not surprised to see them try to do more than volume during a holiday season.
 
What's a "category killer"?

Dell's sales for the 3rd quarter were up 11% over last year but fell short of forecast sales by $400 million. They also had to pay $300 million to replace faulty capacitors on their Optiplex systems. The conference call just started and they're trying to spin the numbers in a positive light.

They still made $2.6 billion in profit for Q3.
Dell's average gross profit margin is over 18%
Profit margins are 3 to 4 times higher than any of their competitors.
A recent poll conducted by CIO magazine rated Dell #1 in Customer Service (HAH!).
Ink sales make up 46% of their printer revenue.
Bundled printers generate less consumables sales than standalone printers so they expect to de-emphasize their printer bundling deals.
Printer deals have not been very effective at generating sales. (no kidding)
Desktop PC revenue declined 2% from last year ("as the shift to mobility continues")
Revenue outside the US was up 20% and constitutes over 30% of Dell's total revenue.
Outside the US everything is great.
Began shipping out of their new NC plant.
Desktop PC business was down 2%
Shifting focus to dual-core desktops and servers.
Denied that they had any chipset shortages.
They take great pride in their "impeccable technical support". :eek:
They expect to improve profitability in Q4 by focusing on high end systems.
New generation of Latitudes early next year.
Federal and educational sales met their targets in Q3 but historically decline in Q4.
February is their "worst month of the year".
DellSB and Dell Home divisions will be combined.
For Q4 expect margins to decline due to "customer experience initiatives".

Dell claims their focus has always been on the corporate and business market (?) and they aren't worried about the hit their consumer segment is taking.

Analysts are worried because Dell's notebooks do not have the same advantages over their competitors that their desktop PCs have always had. Desktops made up 50% of Dell's sales for years but it's now down to 37% so some people think Dell will have a harder time making up the difference on mobile systems.

No mention at all about their monitors. Interesting. They did mention their new LCD televisions, but said their TV sales are too small to be significant. Draw your own conclusions about Dell's LCD displays.

Conference call ended (1 hr 5 min) - sorry for the length and all the updates!

You can download the slides from the conference call here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top