Dell Inc. is a multinational business that is widely known for the manufacture of computer and computer-related products. In fact, Dell Inc. is regarded as one of the biggest multinational corporation in the global that sells computer products. Michael Dell founded this company in 1984 as a PC-oriented firm (Keller, 2013) . Reports suggest that he started the company with a capital of $1,000 while he was undertaking his studies at the University of Texas. It was revealed that Michael Dell started this company with a primary goal of selling computer systems directly to the clients. That way, he believed that he would be able to understand the needs of the customers thereby he would be able to provide them with robust computer solutions. The first product of Dell Inc. was a self-designed computer product called Turbo PC. This product was cheap compared to products from other major brands in the market.
Dell Inc. was not the first company to do this. However, it was the first firm to report massive success in its first year of operating by reporting 73 million dollars in its trading. In 1988, the organization’s name was changed to Dell Computer Corporation. Despite being successful in its first years of operation, the company was unsuccessful in selling its products directly to the customers through stores in the year 1999. Nevertheless, in1992, the company was included in the Fortune Magazine thereby becoming a member of the world’s biggest 500 companies (Keller, 2013) . In 1996, the company commenced selling its goods through its website. Three years later, Dell beat Compaq in the United States to become the leading seller of PCs in the country. In that period, the company generated revenue of 25 million dollars (Keller, 2013) .
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Notably, the computer industry is one of the most competitive industries in the current global. This is because this industry exhibits a high level of flexibility and technology is regularly changing. As such, companies are required to invest in research and development (R&D) so that they can gain a competitive advantage in the market. In the computer industry, R&D has been identified as one of the tools that companies can use in order to catch up with speed that technology. Reports also suggest that businesses that are unable to catch up with the pace of technology stand a chance of being outpaced in the market since they are competitively disadvantaged. In this industry, Dell Inc. is competing with prominent companies such as HP that was founded in 1939. Other companies include IBM, Acer, and Apple which were established in 1880, 1976 and 1976 respectively. Notably, other influential companies appeared on the market even before Dell Inc. Company was initiated. This is an implication that Dell Inc. Company has to compete with other established brands in the market. Of essence, the company needs to evaluate the market to understand how it can compete effectively against the competitors. Therefore, Dell Inc. can be able to realize this purpose if it conducts a SWOT analysis (Adams, 2005) . In that respect, this article will provide insight into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Dell Inc. Company.
SWOT Analysis of Dell Inc. Company
Like other companies, Dell Inc. The company exhibits strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and weaknesses that will be discussed herein.
Strengths
Dell Inc. The company has a good brand positioning in the market. This is because it sells products that are of high quality at an affordable price. Reports indicate that the Dell brand is worth $7.5 billion in the market. Second, Dell Inc. has an excellent competitive advantage in the market. This is because the company unveils products that allow the clients to customize them. Initially, Toshiba was among the few businesses that provided customers with such merits. The adoption of this feature has been the key to the improvement of the competitive advantage of the enterprise in the market.
Reports also indicate that Dell Inc. Company is one of the organizations that take part in environmental conservation practices. Being an active player in such occasions has enabled the company to work with federal agencies hence establishing a good rapport with its potential customers. The company has also been involved in mergers and acquisitions (Datamonitor, 2008). Research reveals that over the last five years, Dell Inc. Company has used over $13 billion in acquisitions and mergers. The other strength of Dell Inc. Company is direct sales . Notably, this company avails its products directly to the customers. This is vital because it provides the corporation with an opportunity to generate maximum revenues from its products.
Weaknesses
The shortcomings of Dell Inc. Company include availing commodity products to the customers. The computer products that are sold to clients by Dell Inc. are computer related. These products are commonly referred to as commodity products. It has been established that commodity products often fetch low revenues from the market. Besides, the company over recent times has been associated with reduced consumer satisfaction (Datamonitor, 2008) . This is because of poor services being rendered by the firm. Also, the company is linked to little investment in R&D . Failure to invest in R&D implies that the company is slowly losing its innovative power. Other weaknesses include a weak patent system that discourages innovativeness, little differentiation and few locations for retailing serviced.
Opportunities
Dell Inc. Company is presented with numerous opportunities such as the capability to enhance its services . Dell offers some services to its customers including cloud-computing services such as data storage and networking among others. Nevertheless, the company has the ability increase this services thereby providing it with an excellent chance to grow and improve the profits it generates (Datamonitor, 2008) . Also, the company can maintain and enhance its market position . Notably, the current world seems to provide an excellent market for computer-based technologies.
Dell Inc. Company has already made its presence in the market to be realized (Datamonitor, 2008) . Nonetheless, there is a need for the company to ensure that its position in the market is strengthened since recent research indicated that the market position of the firm was declining. Furthermore, Dell Inc. Company has the potential to enhance its patents during the process of merging and acquisition. In doing so, the firm will be able to nurture innovativeness which is an ingredient in increasing the competitive advantage of the company.
Threats
Like other computer-based companies, Dell Inc. Company is faced with the threat of increasing the manufacture of smartphones and tablets . Notably, there is an increased demand for these products in the market which requires such companies to make this product. Nevertheless, if the company cannot invest in R&D, it will be hard for it to meet this emerging need (Datamonitor, 2008) . The other threat facing Dell Inc. Company is the low revenues generated from commoditized products . Various scholars have indicated that the profit margin from commoditized products such as hardware will reduce in the future. In addition, the computer market is showing slow growth rates. Reports also indicate that there is the likelihood that these markets will be saturated shortly (Datamonitor, 2008) . The final threat is the stiff competition that exists in the computer industry. There are many players in this industry including Toshiba, Apple, HP, and Acer among others. The competition implies that firms have to take into consideration various factors such as quality, price, and technology to be competitively advantaged.
In conclusion, Dell Inc. Company has numerous strengths that can be explored to mask the weaknesses that the firm has. Besides, the strength of the company is enough to enable it to maximize its opportunities. Essentially, it is necessary for the business to leverage on its good brand positioning and embrace R&D to avail new products that would meet the demands of their customers.
References
Adams J. (2005). Analyze Your Company Using SWOTs . Supply House Times, 48(7): 26-28.
Datamonitor (2008). Dell Inc. Company Profile . Retrieved from http://www.lhoir.fr/divers/memoire/docs%20internet/DATAMONITOR_DELL%20JANVIER%202008.pdf.
Keller, K. (2013). Dell (Yes, Dell) Is About to Make History. Technology & Media . Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2013/11/14/dell-yes-dell-is-about-to-make-history/.
