Dell Aims at Lucrative Asian Markets

Dell Inc., trying to benefit from the booming Asian markets is planning to make significant investments in China and India. The world’s second largest PC maker is developing new models for the Asian countries. Last year, it released low-cost models fro rural and novice users.

Dell said yesterday that this year it will source 28 percent more hardware components from China.

The company plans to buy $23 billion of components from Chinese suppliers this year, up from $18 billion in 2007, Michael Dell, chief executive of Dell, said yesterday in Beijing.

"Including last year, this year and expected purchases next year, Dell will purchase $70 billion worth of computer-related supplies and equipment from China," he said.

Dell officials have emphasized the importance of investing in thriving markets like India and China for constant growth. Last year, the company decided to sell PCs through Gome and signed up the Chinese consumer electronics retailer.

According to research firm IDC, Dell gripped on 7.9 percent of China's PC market in the fourth quarter - behind Lenovo, HP and Founder Technology.

In the three months ending Feb 1, Dell posted revenue of $16 billion up 10 per cent from a year ago. Chief augment had come from India, China and emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa where the revenue posted was respectively 57 percent, 32 percent and 44 percent.

There was an increase of 36 per cent in the combined sales of Brazil, Russia, India and China as compared with the 17 per cent rise in the U.S sales.

Dell yesterday rebuffed speculation that it is trying to acquire small players in China. Amit Midha, president of Dell (Greater China), said the company is not looking for acquisition targets and has no plans to get hold of minor players in the country.

"We have a lot of things to do before we can consider ourselves successful here in China Right now, we don't have plans to work with the third or fourth players," he said.

Through its partnership with Gome and by extending its direct sales model, Dell is aiming to get a place in 1,200 cities in China by the end of this year - up from 45 cities last year.

Midha said the company low-cost products are on the company’s agenda to challenge rivals such as Lenovo, which have a far greater market share.