dell

Dell Inc. was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell the present Chairman and the longest tenured chief executive officer in the computer industry. From that time Dell has grown into a multinational corporation with subsidiaries world wide. The United Kingdom became the first of these subsidiaries in 1987, and the company floated in the U.S.A. in 1988 issuing 3.5 million shares at $8.5 each, making the company worth on flotation, over $29million. Dell employs approximately 63,700 people worldwide and revenue for the past four quarters totalled £54.2 billion. Dell believes that by selling computers systems direct to the public they could best understand their needs with this personal contact. The value of the company's shares by 1997 was equal to around $1000 per share, demonstrating that this approach to the marketing of computer systems was a phenomenal success. By 2006 nearly one in every five standard based computer systems was Dell, demonstrating the value of this direct approach to customers.

When people think of Dell in 2006 most would consider that their product range was confined to notebook computer systems or 'laptops'. This is far from the case as their product range is far reaching. It is true that Dell make a range of notebooks designed for a wide variety of business and personal needs. In addition, Dell makes precision desktop and mobile workstations that are aimed at the professional user requiring exceptional performance. Two lines of desktop computer feature in the Dell range. These are the Optiplex line, designed for corporate or small business users, and the Dimension aimed at the home user or smaller business. Printing and imaging systems features high in the Dell portfolio, with a wide array of Dell branded printers, from photo printers for consumers, to large multifunction lasers for corporate workgroups. Dell aims to make printing easier to buy, own and use.

In addition to computers and printers, Dell products and services includes servers, storage, networking products, software and peripherals, and managed systems.