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23-03-2006, 04:01 PM
Dell to buy Alienware
DELL has it agreed to buy gaming-computer maker Alienware, part of a push into the lucrative computer gaming market.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Privately-held Alienware, based in Miami, would operate as a separate unit and keep its product development, marketing, sales and technical support staff as well as its brand, Dell said in a statement. A Dell spokesman said the acquisition was financially immaterial to Dell, which had revenue of $US55.9 billion ($77.9 billion) last year compared with Alienware's $US200 million.
"This is good news for Dell's consumer market," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said.
Dell had been expanding in the computer gaming market, launching a supercharged, $US9,900 version of its high-end XPS line of computers in January. Gaming PCs can sell for five to 10 times as much as desktop PCs.
Dell has tried to boost profit in its consumer business, which accounts for 15 per cent of revenue, after it posted slower-than-forecast growth last year as it lowered prices on entry-level PCs too aggressively.
Announcing an aggressive push into consumer electronics, Chairman Michael Dell said in January that about 20 per cent of PC users, or about 40 million people, were gamers and that the company wanted to capitalise on the high-performance gaming market.
The purchase renewed speculation that Dell, which exclusively uses Intel chips, may begin using microprocessors by Intel competitor AMD, which run Alienware computers.
Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn said the company was not contemplating switching chip suppliers.
"Our strategy in terms of suppliers that we work with is unchanged," Mr Blackburn said. "This doesn't signal that we are changing that."
DELL has it agreed to buy gaming-computer maker Alienware, part of a push into the lucrative computer gaming market.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Privately-held Alienware, based in Miami, would operate as a separate unit and keep its product development, marketing, sales and technical support staff as well as its brand, Dell said in a statement. A Dell spokesman said the acquisition was financially immaterial to Dell, which had revenue of $US55.9 billion ($77.9 billion) last year compared with Alienware's $US200 million.
"This is good news for Dell's consumer market," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said.
Dell had been expanding in the computer gaming market, launching a supercharged, $US9,900 version of its high-end XPS line of computers in January. Gaming PCs can sell for five to 10 times as much as desktop PCs.
Dell has tried to boost profit in its consumer business, which accounts for 15 per cent of revenue, after it posted slower-than-forecast growth last year as it lowered prices on entry-level PCs too aggressively.
Announcing an aggressive push into consumer electronics, Chairman Michael Dell said in January that about 20 per cent of PC users, or about 40 million people, were gamers and that the company wanted to capitalise on the high-performance gaming market.
The purchase renewed speculation that Dell, which exclusively uses Intel chips, may begin using microprocessors by Intel competitor AMD, which run Alienware computers.
Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn said the company was not contemplating switching chip suppliers.
"Our strategy in terms of suppliers that we work with is unchanged," Mr Blackburn said. "This doesn't signal that we are changing that."