Dell is an American multinational computer technology company based in Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Named after its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest technological corporations in the world, employing more than 103, 300 people in the U.S. and around the world.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs) , servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals, HDTVs, cameras, printers, MP3 players, and electronics built by other manufacturers. The company is well known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce, particularly its direct-sales model and its "build-to-order"or "configure to order"approach to manufacturing—delivering individual PCs configured to customer specifications.[3][4] Dell was a pure hardware vendor for much of its existence, but with the acquisition in 2009 of Perot Systems, Dell entered the market for IT services. The company has since made additional acquisitions in storage and networking systems, with the aim of expanding their portfolio from offering computers only to delivering complete solutions for enterprise customers.[5][6]
Dell was listed at number 51 in the Fortune 500 list, until 2014.[7] After going private in 2013, the newly confidential nature of its financial information prevents the company from being ranked by Fortune. In 2015, it was the third largest PC vendor in the world after Lenovo and HP.[8] Dell is the largest shipper of PC monitors worldwide.[9] Dell is the sixth largest company in Texas by total revenue, according to Fortune magazine.[10] It is the second largest non-oil company in Texas – behind AT& T – and the largest company in the Greater Austin area.[11] It was a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: DELL) , as well as a component of the NASDAQ-100 and S& P 500, until it was taken private in a leveraged buyout which closed on October 30, 2013.
In 2016, Dell acquired the enterprise technology firm EMC Corporation; following the completion of the purchase, Dell and EMC became divisions of Dell Technologies.
Dell's headquarters is located in Round Rock, Texas.[132] As of 2013 the company employed about 14, 000 people in central Texas and was the region's largest private employer, [133]which has 2, 100, 000 square feet ( 200, 000 m2) of space.[134] As of 1999 almost half of the general fund of the city of Round Rock originated from sales taxes generated from the Dell headquarters.[135]
Dell previously had its headquarters in the Arboretum complex in northern Austin, Texas.[136][137] In 1989 Dell occupied 127, 000 square feet ( 11, 800 m2) in the Arboretum complex.[138] In 1990, Dell had 1, 200 employees in its headquarters.[136] In 1993, Dell submitted a document to Round Rock officials, titled "Dell Computer Corporate Headquarters, Round Rock, Texas, May 1993 Schematic Design."Despite the filing, during that year the company said that it was not going to move its headquarters.[139] In 1994, Dell announced that it was moving most of its employees out of the Arboretum, but that it was going to continue to occupy the top floor of the Arboretum and that the company's official headquarters address would continue to be the Arboretum. The top floor continued to hold Dell's board room, demonstration center, and visitor meeting room. Less than one month prior to August 29, 1994, Dell moved 1, 100 customer support and telephone sales employees to Round Rock.[140] Dell's lease in the Arboretum had been scheduled to expire in 1994.[141]
By 1996, Dell was moving its headquarters to Round Rock.[142] As of January 1996, 3, 500 people still worked at the current Dell headquarters. One building of the Round Rock headquarters, Round Rock 3, had space for 6, 400 employees and was scheduled to be completed in November 1996.[143] In 1998 Dell announced that it was going to add two buildings to its Round Rock complex, adding 1, 600, 000 square feet ( 150, 000 m2) of office space to the complex.[144]
In 2000, Dell announced that it would lease 80, 000 square feet ( 7, 400 m2) of space in the Las Cimas office complex in unincorporatedTravis County, Texas, between Austin and West Lake Hills, to house the company's executive offices and corporate headquarters. 100 senior executives were scheduled to work in the building by the end of 2000.[145] In January 2001, the company leased the space in Las Cimas 2, located along Loop 360. Las Cimas 2 housed Dell's executives, the investment operations, and some corporate functions. Dell also had an option for 138, 000 square feet ( 12, 800 m2) of space in Las Cimas 3.[146] After a slowdown in business required reducing employees and production capacity, Dell decided to sublease its offices in two buildings in the Las Cimas office complex.[147] In 2002 Dell announced that it planned to sublease its space to another tenant; the company planned to move its headquarters back to Round Rock once a tenant was secured.[146] By 2003, Dell moved its headquarters back to Round Rock. It leased all of Las Cimas I and II, with a total of 312, 000 square feet ( 29, 000 m2) , for about a seven-year period after 2003. By that year roughly 100, 000 square feet ( 9, 300 m2) of that space was absorbed by new subtenants.[148]
In 2008, Dell switched the power sources of the Round Rock headquarters to more environmentally friendly ones, with 60% of the total power coming from TXU Energy wind farms and 40% coming from the Austin Community Landfill gas-to-energy plant operated by Waste Management, Inc.[134]
Dell facilities in the United States are located in Austin, Texas; Nashua, New Hampshire; Nashville, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Peoria, Illinois; Hillsboro, Oregon (Portland area) ; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Eden Prairie, Minnesota (Dell Compellent) ; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Miami, Florida. Facilities located abroad include Penang, Malaysia; Xiamen, China; Bracknell, UK; Manila, Philippines[149] Chennai, India; [150]Hyderabad, India; Noida, India; Hortolandia and Porto Alegre, Brazil; Bratislava, Slovakia; Ló dz, Poland; [151] Panama City, Panama; Dublin and Limerick, Ireland; Casablanca, Morocco and Montpellier, France.
The US and India are the only countries that have all Dell's business functions and provide support globally: research and development, manufacturing, finance, analysis, and customer care.[152]
ManufacturingEdit
From its early beginnings, Dell operated as a pioneer in the "configure to order"approach to manufacturing—delivering individual PCs configured to customer specifications. In contrast, most PC manufacturers in those times delivered large orders to intermediaries on a quarterly basis.[153]
To minimize the delay between purchase and delivery, Dell has a general policy of manufacturing its products close to its customers. This also allows for implementing a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing approach, which minimizes inventory costs. Low inventory is another signature of the Dell business model—a critical consideration in an industry where components depreciate very rapidly.[154]
Dell's manufacturing process covers assembly, software installation, functional testing ( including "burn-in"), and quality control. Throughout most of the company's history, Dell manufactured desktop machines in-house and contracted out manufacturing of base notebooks for configuration in-house.[155] The company's approach has changed, as cited in the 2006 Annual Report, which states, "We are continuing to expand our use of original design manufacturing partnerships and manufacturing outsourcing relationships." The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2008 that "Dell has approached contract computer manufacturers with offers to sell"their plants.[156] By the late 2000s, Dell's "configure to order"approach of manufacturing—delivering individual PCs configured to customer specifications from its US facilities was no longer as efficient or competitive with high-volume Asian contract manufacturers as PCs became powerful low-cost commodities.[47]
Assembly of desktop computers for the North American market formerly took place at Dell plants in Austin, Texas (original location) and Lebanon, Tennessee (opened in 1999) , which have been closed in 2008 and early 2009, respectively. The plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina received US$280 million in incentives from the state and opened in 2005, but ceased operations in November 2010, and Dell's contract with the state requires them to repay the incentives for failing to meet the conditions.[51][52] Most of the work that used to take place in Dell's U.S. plants was transferred to contract manufacturers in Asia and Mexico, or some of Dell's own factories overseas. The Miami, Florida facility of its Alienware subsidiary remains in operation, while Dell continues to produce its servers ( its most profitable products) in Austin, Texas.[47]
Dell assembled computers for the EMEA market at the Limerick facility in the Republic of Ireland, and once employed about 4, 500 people in that country. Dell began manufacturing in Limerick in 1991 and went on to become Ireland's largest exporter of goods and its second-largest company and foreign investor. On January 8, 2009, Dell announced that it would move all Dell manufacturing in Limerick to Dell's new plant in the Polish city of Ló dz by January 2010.[157]European Union officials said they would investigate a €52.7million aid package the Polish government used to attract Dell away from Ireland.[158] European Manufacturing Facility 1 ( EMF1, opened in 1990) and EMF3 form part of the Raheen Industrial Estate near Limerick. EMF2 ( previously a Wang facility, later occupied by Flextronics, situated in Castletroy) closed in 2002, [citation needed] and Dell Inc. has consolidated production into EMF3 ( EMF1 now[when? ] contains only offices) .[159]Subsidies from the Polish government did keep Dell for a long time.[160] After ending assembly in the Limerick plant the Cherrywood Technology Campus in Dublin was the largest Dell office in the republic with over 1200 people in sales ( mainly UK & Ireland) , support ( enterprise support for EMEA) and research and development for cloud computing, but no more manufacturing except[161] Dell's Alienware subsidiary, which manufactures PCs in an Athlone, Ireland plant. Whether this facility will remain in Ireland is not certain.[162] Construction of EMF4 in Ló dz, Poland has started: Dell started production there in autumn 2007.[163]
Dell opened plants in Penang, Malaysia in 1995, and in Xiamen, China in 1999. These facilities serve the Asian market and assemble 95% of Dell notebooks. Dell Inc. has invested[when? ] an estimated $60 million in a new manufacturing unit in Chennai, India, to support the sales of its products in the Indian subcontinent. Indian-made products bear the "Made in India"mark. In 2007 the Chennai facility had the target of producing 400, 000 desktop PCs, and plans envisaged it starting to produce notebook PCs and other products in the second half of 2007.[citation needed]
Dell moved desktop, notebook and PowerEdge server manufacturing for the South American market from the Eldorado do Sul plant opened in 1999, to a new plant in Hortolandia, Brazil in 2007.[164]