Dell reported worse than expected earnings. After it announced quarterly results, the company’s executives made a point for introducing Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 8 to its machines.
The company’s earnings have declined by more than US $300 millions, according to the report made public today. The company doesn’t appear to perform very well financially. In the quarterly report published on 2 November, the company had a bad news for its share holders.
Earnings have dipped from more than US $890 million in the same quarter last year to approximately US $475 million. The same period saw the company revenue drop by about 11 per cent.
The results have clearly made the giant computer manufacturer nervous. The company is desperately looking for new ideas and plans to increase revenue and profits. One of the ideas on table is to rebrand the company from old fashioned manufacturer of computers and other products to a 21st century provider of information technology (IT) services. The company is seriously considering the idea.
Good as it may seem on paper, the company knows it is not going to be easy. It still has millions of computers in its warehouses that have yet to find customers. And PCs aren’t the company’s only problem. It has a whole load of Windows 8 tablets it has to find buyers for.
The PC market may be shrinking in the US and other developed countries, but the demand for tablets in continuously growing. Therein lies a relief for beleaguered Dell. The company will find it easier to sell tablets than PCs. It hopes to challenge Apple’s dominate position in the tablet market through its Windows 8 tablets.
According to a transcript provided by sources, the company’s chief commercial officer and President Steven Felice has said he is hearing from a lot of customers who are demanding more security and easy manageability in their tablets. He pointed out the company’s new products that are more secure.
He named Latitude 10 and other products that come with enhanced security features, a replaceable battery and even smartcard. He hopes they will resonate well among the customers. The company is leaning heavily on these new products.
Now the crucial question is if a replaceable battery, smartcard and additional security features will make Latitude 10 a must for businesses. Latitude 10 is an Intel-based tablet that will cost US $649.
According to Dell’s chief financial officer, Brian Gladden, he has been hearing a lot lately from the CEOs complaining about additional costs they have to bear with each upgrade and lack of a tablet that meets common business standards. Will the prevalence of Windows PCs make it easier for Dell’s Windows tablets to secure their position?
It may but nothing is certain for even the pundits can’t figure out how the new Windows based tablet will perform against Apple’s more established iPad. Anyway, Dell has decided and financial results will soon tell us all how the gamble has played out.
Dell is planning to sell two tablets: XPS 12 and XPS 10. The first once costs more than a thousand dollars and it fully compatible with old Windows software. The second costs half as much but compatibility with old software is lacking.
