Word: directs
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...democracy movement has found a new?and formidable?crusader. Three years on from the 500,000-strong march of July 1, 2003 that helped oust unpopular Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, the campaign is struggling to stay relevant. With the economy booming and Beijing ruling out the expansion of direct elections until after 2008, only 40,000 people took part in this year's July 1 march?a clear sign of the movement's lost momentum...
...second reason for Dell to go retail is more prosaic. For years, Dell's direct-shipment model proved especially good for selling to businesses, which generate 80% of its sales. But the business market is becoming more commoditized, and prices are in a free fall. So everyday shoppers are powering the industry's growth. The consumer market grew at twice the pace of the enterprise market last year, according to technology-research firm IDC. Result: Dell's stock has plummeted 52% in the past year. The company's sales grew a lackluster (for Dell) 14%, to $56 billion, in fiscal...
Many of the challenges facing Dell seem to spring from the very innovations that made it a juggernaut. By selling direct, Dell keeps a lid on overhead and offers customized computers at competitive prices, with relatively swift delivery. As the price of computing dropped, Dell was consistently able to shed costs and maintain a price advantage over rivals. But this year Dell's competitors have attacked that price gap. HP slashed thousands of jobs and reduced the number of assembly plants, streamlining its supply chain and enabling it to go head to head with Dell on low-end machines. Retailers...
...stores are part of a bigger program to make the company more user-friendly. Dell is retraining its customer-support staff and offering a new service called Dell Direct, which allows a technician to connect to a customer's computer to root out problems. That's partly in response to harsh criticism after the company didn't initially beef up customer support as business grew, leading to 30-min. waits to talk to a phone rep. Last year Dell also announced it would hire 1,500 more call-center workers. "What I am most excited about is the investment...
Dell is confident that the direct model still affords consumers as much advantage as it does business. But last week's results signal that the days of exceeding growth predictions are probably over. Dell may be forced to grind it out like everyone else. "When you're that big, how do you keep growing like that?" asks Roger Kay, president of research firm Endpoint Technologies. "Dell has to reset Wall Street's expectations, but the computer industry is still seen as young. It's hard for a tech company to face Wall Street and say, 'Look, guys, this...