“Dell reported a 33 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits that were slightly ahead of expectations. But the No. 2 PC maker’s sales figures came in below estimates and Dell warned that growth and profit margins will remain ‘under pressure’ for the next few quarters,” CNNMoney reports.
CNNMoney reports, “Dell said its sales for the quarter were $14.4 billion, a 5.1 percent decrease from the year-ago period. Analysts had expected revenues of $14.88 billion. Dell reported earnings of $673 million, or 30 cents per share for the quarter, compared to analyst expectations of 29 cents per share. In the fourth quarter of 2005, the company earned $1 billion, or 43 cents per share. Analysts had expected profits of 32 cents per share for the quarter before Dell issued a warning on January 31.”
“Dell’s stock has tumbled over 40 percent over the past two years on decreased sales, slimmer profit margins and the accounting probe… Dell did not offer specific guidance, but said that it expects growth and margins to be under pressure for the next several quarters as it transforms the company,” CNNMoney reports.
“‘We are disappointed with the company’s results, but what matters is our future plan of action. We are systematically moving to increase efficiencies, improve execution and transform the company,’ said Michael Dell in a statement. ‘Our business model will become more aligned with the needs of our customers,”‘ he added,” CNNMoney reports.
Full article here.
“Among Dell’s main business areas, desktop PCs remained the company’s biggest revenue generator, accounting for $4.6 billion, or 32% of the quarter’s sales. However, desktop revenue fell 18% from last year’s $5.6 billion,” Rex Crum reports for MarketWatch.
Crum reports, “Mobility sales, which include notebook PCs, was flat with a year ago at $3.8 billion. ‘Those results were pretty weak,’ according to Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. ‘That area is one of the most important in the PC market right now.'”
“Additionally, Dell announced that it had received a stay from the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, regarding any further action to delist the company’s stock from the Nasdaq. Dell has until May 4 to provide the council with any additional material for it to consider,” Crum reports. “Shares of Dell fell almost 2% in after-hours trading to $22.62.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Box assembler Michael Dell’s best future plan of action to transform his floundering, unexceptional, run-of-the-mill company would be to… drum roll, please… shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Related articles:
Beleaguered one-trick pony Dell faces unclear future – February 14, 2007
Biting words on Apple come back to haunt Dell – February 10, 2007
Dell faces investor lawsuit over ‘illegal Intel kickbacks’ – February 02, 2007
Michael Dell is no Steve Jobs – February 02, 2007
BusinessWeek: Welcome back, Michael Dell – don’t get too comfortable – February 01, 2007
Rollins out as beleaguered Dell’s CEO, replaced by Michael Dell immediately – January 31, 2007
Fortune: Michael Dell reiterates he’d love to sell Apple’s Mac OS X if only Jobs would license – January 22, 2007
Total eclipse of Michael Dell goes off as predicted – January 10, 2007
SEC starts formal probe of beleaguered Dell – November 16, 2006
Apple does it again: New Macbook Pros much cheaper than Dell – October 25, 2006
Dell feels the heat from Apple – October 04, 2006
The Motley Fool: ‘Intel to Dell: you guys stink’ – September 28, 2006
Beleaguered Dell’s OS-limited PC sales ‘declining rapidly below expectations’ – analyst – September 21, 2006
Fortune compares Mac vs. Dell: ‘you’ll get more for your money with Apple’ – September 11, 2006
PC box assemblers like Dell and others wish Apple would license Mac OS X – August 31, 2006
AP: Time to think different, Apple Mac beats Dell on price, software compatibility, and more – August 23, 2006
Dell profit falls almost in half; announces informal SEC probe – August 18, 2006
Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
Dell warns of earnings miss; shares plunge 15% – July 21, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Dell warns 1Q earnings will miss mark; shares tumble – May 08, 2006
Apple passes Dell in market value – May 02, 2006
InformationWeek: Apple Mac run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux; Dell and HP should be concerned – May 01, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Apple Mac is #1 in European education market, pushes Dell down into second place – February 03, 2006
Steve Jobs emails Apple team: Michael Dell not the best prognosticator, Apple worth more than Dell – January 16, 2006
Dell CEO: Apple can’t just have one product and then say they’re the innovative leader of the world – February 22, 2005
Dismissive Dell CEO not impressed with Apple Mac mini, calls iPod a ‘one-product wonder’ and a ‘fad’ – January 17, 2005
Ouch thats got to hurt. Way to go Michael for taking back the reins.
Perhaps you can loose more next quarter.
Ya Think
Just a thought
MDN’s take is awesome! I love it.
Wow. In the same period, Apple squeezed a $1 billion profit out of only $8 billion in revenue.
The revenue generated from iPods alone was almost the same as Dell’s desktop PC business.
Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell Beleaguered Dell
It’s so beautiful…
-c
MW: ‘five’ (and dime computing)
ChrissyOne LoL
It’s getting to the point where someone should set it to music.
You know, I thought it would…. but it NEVER GETS OLD! 😀 😀 😀
“Among Dell’s main business areas, desktop PCs remained the company’s biggest revenue generator”
What this clearly means is that Dell isn’t selling PCs to ANYBODY these days except for corporate buyers looking for dummy terminals. You make your money off of selling high end desktops and notebooks, not terminals. No wonder their earnings have gone straight into the crapper….
Market share is meaningless without profit.
Even worse, on top of becoming fish, Dell is also foundering.
/likes flounder
//fried with tartar sauce
Do we need the same take for every Dell article?
For a fun time compare a 2 year chart of APPL and DELL
Profit for Q4 2005
Dell $1 billion
Apple $565 million
Profit for Q4 2006
Dell $673 million
Apple $1 billion
The comparison is very revealing and Dell’s position is likely to get worse too.
For an even funner time compare a 5 year chart of AAPL, DELL, and MSFT.
-c
MW: ‘will’ (the wonders ever cease?)
Maybe they should start selling Dells with Mac OS X on them. Oh wait…what was I thinking? Bye bye Dull. Maybe they could just make prettier cases for their computers. I’m sure this is all they have in mind for transforming the company.
And today’s statistic for them that likes them…
As of now, Dell has somehow managed to be so irrelevant that they are now worth less than Sony.
It’s like a little Greek tragedy, except with cowboy hats instead of togas and shit software instead of murderous sons.
“Those who the Gods want to destroy, they first make mad.”
NEWS FLASH: In a bold move today Michael Dell has changed his name to Mike Dell.
His first act as Mike will be to ambush Steve Jobs as he is leaving his Cuppertino office and
beat him to a pulp. Hopefully this story will not give Mr. Jobs any warning of his impending thrashing.
News at 11:00
Cpt. Obvious…
That’s the problem with hubris. It comes back and bites you in the ass.
At least we’re not writing letters to Mikey D with his fateful words repeated back at him.
That would be cruel.
But funny.
NEWS FLASH: Liking all the press he has gotten, Mike Dell has announced that he will be changing the Name of his daughter Amanda to Beleaguered, yes Beleaguered Dell.
Thus giving his failing more company more press than they have seen in years.
News at 1:00
@PorradaVFR
From Tiger’s built-in dictionary:
It is easy to confuse the words founder and flounder, not only because they sound similar but also because the contexts in which they are used overlap. Founder means, in its general and extended use, ‘fail or come to nothing, sink out of sight’ (: the scheme foundered because of lack of organizational backing). Flounder, on the other hand, means ‘struggle, move clumsily, be in a state of confusion’ ( | new recruits floundering about in their first week).
ChrissyOne is correct… The 5 year chart of AAPL, DELL, and MSFT is a much more fun time. I am humbled in ChrissyOne’s presence.
they still sell well made flat panel displays
i’ve bought more than two dozen 20″ for both Mac’s and PC’s over the past year
Apple’s display are absurdly old plated (aka over priced)
for that much they are ok
Guess they’ll be revising some of the recent Management textbooks that currently praise Michael Hell and his gray box pimping business model.
Rock on Steve!
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Californian lawyers have applied to bring a class action law suit against computer giant Dell with Wolverhampton City Council’s pension fund as lead plaintiff.
Patrick Daniels of Lerach Coughlin law firm alleged on Channel4 News last night that Dell executives had conducted “one of the largest cases of insider trading in US history.”
The programme said that the fund had alleged that between February 2003 and September 2005 Dell executives sold around 99 million shares they held in Dell for more than $3.3bn after artificially inflating the price. The firm is alleged to have improperly reported loyalty payments Intel made to Dell in exchange for the privilege of being its sole supplier of PC microprocessors.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/23/dell_lawsuit/
AAPL/MSFT/DELL 5-yr chart:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=AAPL&t=5y&l=off&z=m&q=l&c=dell,msft
@ChrissyOne
I like your style…in a devilish sort of way;-)
REPENT DELL…
The end is NEAR!
We are systematically moving to increase efficiencies
Squeeze harder, Mike! SQUEEEEEEZE!! There may still be a drop of blood left in that stone!
Dell is dying!!!
Why is Dell dying?
Because they have risen to the top of the PC market and people are tired of their name.
Because the market Dell caters too, the cheapo’s, is saddled with too much debt from real estate to buy new machines.
“They’re (M$) really grasping at straws for reasons to upgrade the operating system. – John Carmack
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5665
Because a upgrade to Vista incurs a huge hardware and software cost.
So Apple shines because the “well to do” that Apple caters too has more spending cash.
The survival of the fittest. Us.
I *am* fairly evil.
It’s time for Dell to close up shop, sell off what’s left of the the company and give the money back to the stockholders. ‘nough said!
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=dell+aapl
Apple is worth 50% more than Dell as a company.
Gandalf:
Thanx for the linx!!
I’m sure Apple likes this, but I bet HP is rejoicing. The playing field needs to be more level, and it seems it is becoming that way. Apple has killed them on the high end hardware pricing, where Dell makes its money. A transformation is difficult for Dell when you depend on M$ and your greatest innovation is attaching your logo to 3rd party conglomerations of hardware. They are just really getting boring to the public, where Apple is getting more interesting. Their commercials are just bathroom breaks, but Apple’s commercials just make you wanna see what the PC and Mac guy are gonna do next. Even the Dell Dope Dude was at least a little interesting. The best thing Dell could do on their low end hardware is come out with some colors to increase the teenie-bopper sales. Apple’s complete hardware/software solution is really catching on. The sheep are getting smarter and just plain tired of the hassles. Apples biggest problem is now the problem of growing too fast.
I’d like to see them innovate even more and sit at 12-15 percent market share. That would be a perfect position. I still think a 60″ widescreen iMac/HDTV with PIP, BlueRay, AppleTV, iPod charger, and video iChat would not just move into the living room, but own the living room. Yes, 60″ Sounds crazy, huh? All you would need is a sofa and a place to put your wireless keyboard and mouse.
I don’t understand why MDN isn’t flipping out over the fact the 33% is quarter to quarter and not year over year.
ChrissyOne….my Girl!
See how easy it was to drop 33% in a quarter. Keep on keepin on.
If you buy a Dull Display you have to look at their shit logo all day long. No amount of savings is worth that punishment.
Meet the needs of customers,.. be more efficient…
hummm…..
they have a number of assets (cash)…lets take efficient to its logical conclsion, and the needs of the customers to their logical conclusion…
in other words, speed up the ultimate restructuring plan…
(i defer to the MDN take for the remainder of this comment)
the sole good point about dell that i would acknowledge is that they know they’re completely screwed, from a software perspective, and are begging Jobs for an OS X license.
which, of course, Jobs will never give – Jobs has a long memory, and Dell has even less taste than The Microsoft Felon.
I wish my own company could be “unexceptional” and still earn $674 Million in the 4th Quarter!
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Let’s just coin the acronym now: SIDAGTMBTTS.
jscan:
“I wish my own company could be “unexceptional” and still earn $674 Million in the 4th Quarter!”
You don’t if your company had previously made even more than that, and the 674 million was a downward sliding figure with much more bad news on the horizon, was in a position of losing marketshare, with serious management issues, accounting irregularities (combined with possible stock options fraud), and a market position whose future was bleak.
Sure the 674 million is a massive number, but Dell’s on the way down, and it doesn’t look like there’s much of a light at the end of the tunnel. The founder is back but without any great vision or ideas that could turn his flailing company around.
Dude, your getting the dole!