Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: rpm on March 23, 2006, 12:52:34 AM
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Dell has agreed to purchase gaming PC maker Alienware, in a rare acquisition designed to improve Alienware's supply chain and boost Dell's standing among PC enthusiasts.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Alienware will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of the world's largest PC maker, said Nelson Gonzalez, chief executive officer of Alienware. Gonzalez will now report to Jim Schneider, Dell's chief financial officer, but the company will operate separately from Dell, he said.
A Dell representative confirmed the deal, but said the company was deferring comment until later on Wednesday. A Dell representative in Australia had downplayed the possibility of a deal earlier this month. The transaction should be finalized about 30 to 45 days after regulatory hurdles are cleared, Gonzalez said.
There will be no cross-marketing of Dell and Alienware PCs on their respective Web sites, at least initially, said Jess Blackburn, a Dell spokesman. Some Dell-branded products that Alienware doesn't sell, such as monitors, might be sold on Alienware's site, but that hasn't been finalized.
Analysts had been skeptical about the deal when it was first rumored, and some remained skeptical after it was announced.
"I still think it's a bad idea, and a bad fit," said Stephen Baker, an analyst with NPD Techworld. Alienware's customers buy from that company in part because of its image as a technology-driven company that understands the needs of gamers, while Dell is viewed by those customers as a stodgy corporate supplier.
Even though Gonzalez said Alienware will operate separately and not promote Dell on its site, "Alienware customers are smart enough to understand" that Dell will own the company, Baker said.
The deal also could mean that Dell has to rethink its consumer PC strategy, said Roger Kay, principal analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates. The company has sunk a lot of effort into building its XPS lineup of high-end desktops and notebooks for gamers and multimedia enthusiasts. Now, it looks like those systems compete with Alienware in certain areas, he said.
Alienware sells very powerful and very expensive PCs to the top tier of the gaming market. Dell, on the other hand, has a stronger identity with casual gamers who want a good PC but don't want to pay Alienware prices. Both companies have recently tried to appeal to gamers that fall in between those two groups, with Alienware reaching down and Dell reaching up, Kay said. It's unclear how those strategies will continue.
link (http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6052842.html)
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Lesson here was clear.
They took the money and run.
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I really don't get why hardcore gamers would buy a system from Alienware. Those gamers are usually pretty good with tech stuff, so building their own rig would save them money or get an even better system for the same amount of $.
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Well its 2 fold. Yes, you could buy the components and have the wait with shipping, etc and the gratification of putting it together over a weekend. For me, that is worth it.
On the flipside - the AW boxes are jacked, already loaded and tweaked. End result is the same, with another 1500 or so tacked on to the price tag.
So the theme? Time is money.
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Nelson Gonzalez is a long time friend of my mine. He has been a gamer since pinball machines and a phenomenal D&D dungeon master. the company, Alienware is like a child to him. It also provides employment for my brother in law and one of my sons in law. This was a very sweet deal for Nelson. I'm glad for this developement, It will set him up to do even greater things later on. We haven't heard the last from this talented and savvy gamer or his excellent company even if he's now a part of a much bigger picture and probably economically set for life.
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Originally posted by Wolfala
Well its 2 fold. Yes, you could buy the components and have the wait with shipping, etc and the gratification of putting it together over a weekend. For me, that is worth it.
On the flipside - the AW boxes are jacked, already loaded and tweaked. End result is the same, with another 1500 or so tacked on to the price tag.
So the theme? Time is money.
more like $500.00-$600.00 and yes time is money not to mention the excellent customer service/tech support you get from AW.
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The only plus of Alienware is the cool design of the boxes.
They can sell themselves to Wal-mart, I prefer to build my system myself (and save €!).
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My Aurora is the best box I've ever owned, and the people at Alienware are the best I've ever dealt with in the industry. I would accept nothing less for the $$$ I paid, but they've impressed me above and beyond the bottom line which isn't an easy thing to do when it comes to my cash. When this box gets old and tired beyond it's upgradeability life, I'll replace it with another Alienware.
Storch, pass this message along to your friend if you'd care to.
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I've only ever dealt with Falcon Northwest. Outstanding product, excellent customer service, and they created the purpose-built gaming box.
I'm afraid that, while things will be ducky for a while (the honeymoon is always sweet), the inescapable weight and interference that comes with a multi-billion dollar corporate structure will first suck the lifeblood out of the alienware group, then start driving the most talented people out. In a few years, all that will be left will be the name, the funky boxes, offshore service techs and a weak, compromised 'affordable' system.
In my experience, a top-flight, high-quality operation that gets sold off to a major player benefits the founders immensely, then follows the above pattern.
Corporate influence can only ruin a good thing. Goodbye to the Alienware you knew and loved, kids.
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My computer teacher and a fellow student repeatedly talked about how fast Alienware systems would heat up and then have to be turned off so the components didn't melt. That's only hearsay for me, any truth to it?
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AW had 225 million in sales last year, dell had 56 billion. Dell just added a new product line XPS, Alienware etc. dell should make its investment money back+ with the AW brand.
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So will they be called Dellenwares or Deilenwares?
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DellAlien or AlienDell
Dalien?
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Dell will ruin them.
Does Alienware use AMD? Isnt dell intel only?
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Originally posted by GtoRA2
Dell will ruin them.
Does Alienware use AMD? Isnt dell intel only?
yup, alien uses amd and intel. dell uses intel only. dell may start using amd, and alien will continue using both
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Dell at some point down the road will look for a way to make alienware more profitable. They will cut all the custom tuning, and go with cheap parts suppliers, and start cutting the staff that cost money and does not product it. (IE tech support and customer service).
5 years from now everything that made alienware great will be gone and it will be just a reboxed ****box dell.
It is great that the owner is making out like a bandit, but if he thinks alienware is going to live on he is wrong.
When you get investors involved in most cases everything takes a back seat to making every pennie you can everything else takes a backseat unless you have very strong and smart execs at the company. Considering some of the things dell has done, I doubt they do. (though I hear they were smart enough to bring support back into the US)
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my new aurora less than one year old was originally a dual core AMD they just replaced it with a dual core intel because the amd product was having problems running AHII. no charge no questions asked, this through their technical support dept without having to call in favors.
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Alienware is about to go the way of Microsoft's tech support. Overseas and to the cheapest bidder.
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Originally posted by storch
my new aurora less than one year old was originally a dual core AMD they just replaced it with a dual core intel because the amd product was having problems running AHII. no charge no questions asked, this through their technical support dept without having to call in favors.
That's great Storch, no one is saying they are bad now.
It will not be the same in 5 years. I dont even give it that long.