計算機(jī)運算市場持續(xù)進(jìn)展，戴爾公司(Dell)的業(yè)務(wù)卻越走下坡。該公司并未在平板電腦或智能手機(jī)市場上推出任何令人印象深刻的產(chǎn)品組合，但這卻是目前市場需求最蓬勃發(fā)展之處──不再是Dell曾經(jīng)占主導(dǎo)地位的消費或企業(yè)計算機(jī)領(lǐng)域。
但這并不僅僅發(fā)生在Dell公司。許多還未能在此小型運算設(shè)備新世界找到立足點的其它PC制造商們也面臨著類似的問題──如何在這個風(fēng)靡平板電腦與智能手機(jī)以及由蘋果公司(Apple)和三星電子(Samsung Electronics)主導(dǎo)的市場中保有產(chǎn)品的相關(guān)性。除了這兩大對手以外，在平板電腦與智能手機(jī)市場上的其它競爭廠商們也緊緊守著一點微薄的市占率，助長了市場出現(xiàn)一些觀察與預(yù)測：為了避免虧損，一些廠商不得不退出這一領(lǐng)域。
但這并不是指Dell正處于虧損狀態(tài)。該公司有太多具有競爭力的產(chǎn)品之所以出現(xiàn)赤字只是因為消費者和企業(yè)買家的PC需求下滑。從今年五月結(jié)算的2013財年第一季營收來看，Dell的凈利為6.35億美元，較去年同期的9.45億美元衰退了三成。本季銷售業(yè)績144億美元，較2012財年第一季的150億美元下滑了4%，也較上一季下滑10%。投資人與Dell管理階層對于營收衰退都相當(dāng)震驚，該公司管理階層認(rèn)為這是由于銷售執(zhí)行力度不佳、全球經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境疲軟，以及平板電腦與智能手機(jī)等產(chǎn)品競爭壓力所致。
Dell公司首席財務(wù)官Brian Gladden在與分析師的電話會議上進(jìn)一步解釋：
“幾項重大的關(guān)鍵因素導(dǎo)致了公司的營收赤字。我們的銷售執(zhí)行力并未達(dá)到原先的期望，而在邁向第二季之際，我們已經(jīng)為此加強(qiáng)改善了。此外，需求環(huán)境比我們計劃的更嚴(yán)苛，除了大眾市場以外，我要特別強(qiáng)調(diào)的是在歐洲、中東與非洲(EMEA)以及亞洲部份地區(qū)的市場需求不振?！?“最后，我們的部份業(yè)務(wù)經(jīng)歷了一個更具挑戰(zhàn)性的競爭環(huán)境。由于外在的競爭環(huán)境越來越險峻，特別是在入門級市場與新興市場，這使得我們的筆記本計算機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)萎縮了 10%。我們認(rèn)為外在競爭環(huán)境越來越嚴(yán)苛可能是因為過去兩季以來的硬盤短缺問題使渠道庫存重整所致。另外，我們還看到越來越多消費者將IT花費轉(zhuǎn)移到另一種新型的移動運算設(shè)備了。這些種種的市場動態(tài)因素對我們的季營收和獲利造成了沖擊?！?
本文下一頁： PC將進(jìn)入第N次價格大戰(zhàn)
本文授權(quán)編譯自EBN Online，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
相關(guān)閱讀：
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• 電子產(chǎn)品換代頻繁，售后與回收市場升溫
• “白菜價”電腦將為教育事業(yè)作出貢獻(xiàn) lHeesmc
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隨著平板電腦和智能手機(jī)銷售成長，侵蝕著對于個人計算機(jī)的需求，無法在熱銷產(chǎn)品領(lǐng)域占穩(wěn)位置的制造商們只得展開無情的PC價格廝殺戰(zhàn)，來爭取一點市占率。Galdden說Dell公司十分擔(dān)心 這種“激烈的價格競爭環(huán)境將帶來沖擊”，但該公司也沒有夠足強(qiáng)大的市場地位能禁得起這一波攻勢。因為Dell并沒有吸引人的平板電腦或智能手機(jī)產(chǎn)品，能與蘋果 iPad / iPhone 或三星 Galaxy 相抗衡。為了保持其市占率，Dell可能還得再次投入低階PC市場，這個市場可是Dell先前為了避免利潤下滑壓力而避之?？植患暗念I(lǐng)域?。?如果Dell和同樣處境的對手們還在期待企業(yè)IT支出能緩解部份壓力，他們應(yīng)該只會見識到更大的打擊吧！雖然針對企業(yè)IT的要求通常不同于對消費電子產(chǎn)品市場，但如今二者的界線開始慢慢地模糊了。企業(yè)用戶正將更多的功能需求轉(zhuǎn)移至平板電腦，因而大多都忽略了臺式電腦。盡管對于筆記本計算機(jī)的市場的需求預(yù)計還將持續(xù)一段時間，但許多公司已開始尋求員工用平板電腦的功能性，特別是講究移動性、易用性和圖形等功能的銷售業(yè)務(wù)。
Dell 公司管理團(tuán)隊堅信還不必太過于擔(dān)心企業(yè)PC 市場銷售業(yè)務(wù)受侵蝕的問題。但我個人認(rèn)為他們應(yīng)該開始擔(dān)心了。雖然平板電腦并不會完全取代部份用戶的筆記本計算機(jī)，但卻已經(jīng)開始被用來作為輔助設(shè)備了，讓一些企業(yè)能夠減少在IT設(shè)備方面的花費。Dell公司總裁兼商務(wù)長Stephen Felice說：
“臺式和筆記本電腦的消費支出持續(xù)歷經(jīng)市場壓力，同時，在消費市場的許多成長已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)移到新興市場的入門級產(chǎn)品了，而這是一個我們先前不打算投入的領(lǐng)域。我們也看到一些IT預(yù)算優(yōu)先用于采購其它移動設(shè)備了?，F(xiàn)在這是一個大多由消費者帶動的市場動態(tài)，但明顯地也為商業(yè)等領(lǐng)域帶來了沖擊。”
Dell顯然不會放棄PC市場，因為該公司正加緊努力，并且在快速成長的平板電腦市場中擴(kuò)展其產(chǎn)品組合。同樣地，并不是只有Dell一家公司面臨這個問題，而且，就像PC市場曾經(jīng)歷過的情況，平板電腦市場也變得越來越擁擠了。這又是一大問題。
編譯：Susan Hong
本文授權(quán)編譯自EBN Online，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
下一頁，參考英文原文：Dell Struggles in Post-PC World，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief
相關(guān)閱讀：
• Q1筆記本電腦出貨強(qiáng)勁，全年可能突破2.36億臺規(guī)模
• 電子產(chǎn)品換代頻繁，售后與回收市場升溫
• “白菜價”電腦將為教育事業(yè)作出貢獻(xiàn) lHeesmc
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Dell Struggles in Post-PC World
Bolaji Ojo
The computing market is headed where Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) is weakest. The company has no easily recognizable offerings in the tablet PC or smartphone markets, but that's where demand is booming and not in the consumer and enterprise computer segments Dell once dominated and where it is still one of the leading players.
Dell isn't alone. Many other PC manufacturers that have yet to find their footing in the new world of small format computing are facing a similar problem -- how to maintain product relevance in a market fascinated with tablets and smartphones and dominated primarily by Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC). Aside from these two rivals, the other competitors in the tablet and smartphone markets are hanging on tightly to wafer-thin market shares, fueling speculation that some of these may have to exit the sector to stop losing money.
It's not that Dell is losing money. The company has too many other competitive products to slide into the red simply because of declining demand for PCs from consumers and corporate buyers. For the fiscal 2013 first quarter ended May 4, Dell reported net income of $635 million, down from $945 million in the year-ago quarter. Sales fell 10 percent on a sequential basis and 4 percent year-over-year, to $14.4 billion from $15 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. The decline was a surprise to both investors and even Dell executives who attributed it to poor sales execution, a weakening global economic environment, and pressure from competing platforms, essentially tablets and smartphones.
Brian Gladden, Dell's CFO explained further during a conference call with analysts:
There are a few key causes to the [revenue] shortfall. Our sales execution was not up to our expectations, and we've made changes to improve this as we head into the second quarter. The demand environment was tougher than we planned, and I'd specifically highlight weaker demand in markets like EMEA and parts of Asia, in addition to public markets.
Finally, we're seeing a more challenging competitive environment in a few areas of the business. Our notebook business contracted 10 percent, as we saw a more aggressive competitive environment, particularly in the entry level and emerging markets. We believe some of the tougher competitive environment can be attributed to channel inventory rebuilding, following the hard disk issues of the past two quarters. In addition, we're seeing more consumer IT spending diverted to alternative mobile computing devices. These dynamics impacted both our revenue and margins for the quarter.
As rising sales of tablet PCs and smartphones eat into demand for personal computers, manufacturers that don't have a strong position in the hotter product sectors have engaged in a savage PC pricing war to gain market share. Gladden said Dell was concerned "about the impact of the competitive pricing environment" but the company isn't in a strong enough position to withstand the onslaught. It has no compelling tablet or smartphone offering to rival Apple's iPad/iPhone or the Galaxy smartphone from Samsung. To keep its market share, Dell may have to dive again into the low-end PC market, an area it previously shunned to stave off downward margin pressures.
If Dell and rivals in the same position are expecting any relief from corporate IT spending, they should rather brace for a further pounding. Although enterprise IT requirements are typically different than those of the consumer electronics market, the dividing line is beginning to blur slowly. Enterprise users are transitioning more functionalities to tablets and largely ignoring desktop PCs. While demand for notebooks is expected to remain strong for a while, many companies are exploring the utility of tablets for workers, especially those in sales for whom mobility, ease of use, and graphics are highly important.
Dell executives insist they aren't too worried about sales erosion in the enterprise PC market. I think they should be. While tablets may not completely replace notebooks for some users, they are being used as supplementary devices and therefore reducing the amount companies can spend on other IT equipment. Said Stephen Felice, president and chief commercial officer at Dell:
Consumer spending on desktops and notebooks continues to be under pressure, and much of the growth in Consumer has migrated to entry-level products in emerging markets, where we've chosen not to participate. We're also seeing some IT spending prioritized to purchase other mobile devices. Now this is mostly a consumer dynamic, but there is clearly some impact in areas of commercial as well.
While Dell is obviously unable to walk away for now from the PC market, it is intensifying efforts and broadening offerings in the fast-growing tablet sector. Again, it's not alone, and the tablet market is getting as crowded as the PC market once was. And that's a problem.
