|
|
|
Dell Pessimistic About Laptop Sales |
|
|
|
Written by Adam Gosling
|
|
Tuesday, 13 March 2007 |
Maybe the heat is coming out of the laptop market, which has been largely responsible for driving personal computer sales over the past couple of years with lower prices bringing in a host of new customers, particularly in the consumer and SOHO markets.
Dell, long a leader in the PC marketshare stakes has struggled to maintain its momentum, losing marketshare to a re-invigorated Hewlett Packard and losing senior management to deckchair shuffling.
Now it has been revealed that the company has begun reducing its forward orders placed with Taiwan-based manufacturers by as much as 20 per cent.
According to a US press report, the Taiwan-based original design manufacturers (ODMs) say Dell has been reducing its notebook orders changing its laptop sales expectations from 20 million to just 16 million units. Even that might turn out to be optimistic says CitiGroup analyst Richard Gardner.
Gardner also claims that Dell is about to change its manufacturing strategy as it stops completing its own final assembly and outsource the entre manufacturing process.
"One
vendor also indicated that Dell will begin several 'full system
assembly' projects with ODMs in the first calendar quarter of 2007, a
departure from the company's historical practice of performing final
notebook assembly in its own Penang facility," Gardner wrote. "We view
this as a positive for Dell because it will reduce shipping and
assembly costs."
Dell recently hired Michael Cannon, the former
CEO of ODM Solectron, to take over its manufacturing operations and
strongly suggested that a change in its assembly was in the offing.
Related news items Newer news items
Older news items |
|
|
