Dell to Expand Retail Presence in China

Since January of this year, Dell Computer has been tailoring its sales model to fit changing market dynamics. Its very successful direct sales (or build-to-order) approach is simply not the best way to get through to certain markets. China is a shining example of this, and Dell announced today that it will distribute PCs through Gome, China's largest consumer electronics retailer.

Gome has about 700 outlets in 210 Chinese cities. Dell's plan is to immediately assign in-store employees in 50 of those stores, with more planned early next year. Dell says it plans for Gome to feature its XPS M1330 and Inspiron 1420 notebooks, and Dimension 9200 and Inspiron 530 desktops. The latter model is expected to retail for around $300 USD, and be aimed at the rural customer.

Dell's existing Web- and phone-based sales will continue unchanged, with the company offering Linux-based systems as an additional option.

Currently, Dell's share of China's PC market is about 18% by revenue and 10% by units sold, according to consulting firm Gartner Group. While that's a nice chunk and actually higher than Dell's worldwide market share of 16.1%, using Gartner's numbers, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard - which rely more heavily on a retail presence - are actually leading in sales over Dell.

Dell's worldwide retail presence now encompasses in Wal-Mart in the US, Bic Camera Inc. in Japan, and Carphone Warehouse PLC in the UK.