Dell 2000 Annual Report Download - page 4

This direct approach, combined with the Company's efficient procurement, manufacturing and distribution processes, allows the
Company to rapidly deliver relevant technology to its customers.
The Company believes that it has significant opportunities for continued growth. While the Company believes that its business
strategy provides it with competitive advantages, there are many factors that may affect the Company's business and the success of its
operations. For a discussion of these factors, see "Item 1 — Business — Factors Affecting the Company's Business and Prospects."
The Internet
The Company is committed to refining and extending the advantages of its direct model approach by moving even greater volumes of
product sales, service and support to the Internet. The Company receives in excess of 500 million page visits per quarter to
www.dell.com, where it maintains approximately 80 country-specific sites. According to Nielsen/ Net Ratings, during the December
2000 holiday season, www.dell.com was the third most visited web site in the United States. The Company also develops custom
Internet sites, called Premier Pages, for various corporate and institutional customers, allowing these customers to simplify and
accelerate procurement and support processes. Through these custom sites, the Company offers the customer paperless purchase
orders, approved product configurations, global pricing, real-time order tracking, purchasing history and account team information.
The Company currently provides more than 60,000 Premier Pages worldwide. The Company also provides an online virtual account
executive for its small business customers. And, for all domestic customers, the Company provides a spare-parts ordering system, and
a virtual help desk featuring natural-language search capabilities and direct access to technical support data.
Comprehensive Customer Relationships
The Company develops and utilizes direct customer relationships to understand end-users' needs and to deliver high quality computer
products and services tailored to meet those needs. For large corporate and institutional customers, the Company works with the
customer prior to the sale to plan a strategy to meet that customer's current and future technology needs. After the sale, the Company
continues the direct relationship by establishing account teams, consisting of sales, customer service and technical personnel,
dedicated to the Company's large corporate and institutional customers. The Company also establishes direct relationships with small-
to-medium businesses and individuals through account representatives, telephone sales representatives or Internet contact. These
direct customer relationships provide the Company with a constant flow of information about its customers' plans and requirements
and enable the Company to weigh its customers' needs against emerging technologies.
Cooperative Research and Development
The Company has successfully developed cooperative, working relationships with many of the world's most advanced technology
companies. Working with these companies, the Company's engineers manage quality, integrate technologies and design and manage
system architecture. This cooperative approach allows the Company to determine the best method and timing for delivering new
technologies to the market. The Company's goal is to quickly and efficiently deliver the latest relevant technology to its customers.
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Custom-Built Computer Systems
The direct model is based on the principle that delivering custom-built computer systems is the best business model for providing
solutions that are truly relevant to end-user needs. This concept, together with the Company's flexible, build-to-order manufacturing
process, enables the Company to achieve faster inventory turnover and reduced inventory levels and allows the Company to rapidly
incorporate new technologies and components into its product offerings.
Custom-Tailored Service and Support Programs
In the same way that the Company's computer products are built-to-order, service and support programs are designed to fit specific
customer requirements. The Company offers a broad range of service and support programs through its own technical personnel and
its direct management of specialized service suppliers. These services range from online support to onsite customer-dedicated systems
engineers.
Geographic Areas of Operations
The Company conducts operations worldwide and is managed on a geographic basis, with three geographic segments being the
Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific and Japan regions. The Americas segment, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, covers the U.S.,
Canada, South America and Latin America. The European segment, which is based in Bracknell, England, covers the European
countries and also some countries in the Middle East and Africa. The Asia-Pacific and Japan segment covers the Pacific Rim,
including Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and is based in Singapore. See "Item 1 — Business — Factors Affecting the Company's
Business and Prospects — International Activities" for information about certain risks of international activities.
The Company's corporate headquarters are located in Austin, Texas. Its manufacturing facilities are located in or around Austin,
Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Eldorado do Sul, Brazil; Limerick, Ireland; Penang, Malaysia; and Xiamen, China. See "Item 2 —
Properties."