Editing Dell (section)

===Growth in the 1990s and early 2000s===
[[File:Dell Latitude CPx.jpg|thumb|Dell Latitude CPx laptop]]
In 1990, Dell Computer tried selling its products indirectly through warehouse clubs and computer superstores, but met with little success, and the company re-focused on its more successful direct-to-consumer sales model. In 1992, ''[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'' included Dell Computer Corporation in its list of the world's [[Fortune Global 500|500]] largest companies, making Michael Dell the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company at that time.

In 1993, to complement its own direct sales channel, Dell planned to sell PCs at big-box retail outlets such as [[Wal-Mart]], which would have brought in an additional $125 million ({{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=125000000|start_year=1993|r=-5|fmt=eq}}) in annual revenue. [[Bain Capital|Bain]] consultant [[Kevin Rollins]] persuaded Michael Dell to pull out of these deals, believing they would be money losers in the long run.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rivlin |first=Gary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/technology/11dell.html |title=He Naps. He Sings. And He Isn't Michael Dell. |work=The New York Times |date=September 11, 2005 |access-date=October 30, 2012}}</ref> Margins at retail were thin at best and Dell left the reseller channel in 1994.<ref name="mhhe.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/updates/thompson12e/case/dell3.html |title=Dell Computer Corporation Online Case |publisher=Mhhe.com |date=January 30, 1994 |access-date=January 9, 2014}}</ref> Rollins would soon join Dell full-time and eventually become the company president and CEO.

By the early 1990s the [[laptop computer]] market was both more profitable and faster-growing than the overall personal computer market. After discontinuing its unsuccessful existing products in 1993, and hiring John Medica—who had led development of the very successful Apple [[Powerbook]]—the company in 1994 introduced the [[Dell Latitude]] laptop line.<ref name="lohr19940222">{{Cite news |last=Lohr |first=Steve |date=22 February 1994 |title=Dell's Second Stab at Portables |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/22/business/dell-s-second-stab-at-portables.html |work=The New York Times |pages=D1}}</ref>

Originally, Dell did not emphasize the consumer market, due to the higher costs and low profit margins in selling to individuals and households; this changed when the company's Internet site took off in 1996 and 1997.<ref name="delltimeline" /> While the industry's average selling price to individuals was going down, Dell's was going up, as second- and third-time computer buyers who wanted powerful computers with multiple features and did not need much technical support were choosing Dell. Dell found an opportunity among PC-savvy individuals who liked the convenience of buying direct, customizing their PC to their means, and having it delivered in days. In early 1997, Dell created an internal sales and marketing group dedicated to serving the home market and introduced a product line designed especially for individual users.<ref name="mhhe.com"/>
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+Dell's growth in the 1990s<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kraemer |first=Kenneth L. |last2=Dedrick |first2=Jason |date=2001-06-01 |title=Dell Computer: Using E-commerce To Support the Virtual Company |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt7r55529z/qt7r55529z.pdf?t=lnq69p |website=escholarship.org}}</ref>
!Year
!Revenue
($000000s)
!No. of
employees
|-
|1990
|546
|2,050
|-
|1991
|889
|2,970
|-
|1992
|2,013
|4,650
|-
|1993
|2,873
|5,980
|-
|1994
|3,475
|6,400
|-
|1995
|5,296
|8,400
|-
|1996
|7,759
|10,350
|-
|1997
|12,327
|16,000
|-
|1998
|18,243
|24,400
|-
|1999
|25,256
|36,500
|}
From 1997 to 2004, Dell steadily grew and it gained market share from competitors even during industry slumps. During the same period, rival PC vendors such as [[Compaq]], [[Gateway, Inc.|Gateway]], [[IBM Aptiva|IBM]], [[Packard Bell]], and [[AST Research]] struggled and eventually left the market or were bought out.<ref name="ZDA">ZDNET Asia: [http://www.zdnetasia.com/michael-dell-back-as-ceo-rollins-resigns-61986298.htm Michael Dell back as CEO] February 1, 2007. Visited: April 10, 2012 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611213001/http://www.zdnetasia.com/michael-dell-back-as-ceo-rollins-resigns-61986298.htm|date=June 11, 2010}}</ref> Dell surpassed Compaq to become the largest PC manufacturer in 1999.<ref>Rivkin, Jan W., and Porter, Michael E. Matching Dell, Harvard Business School Case 9-799-158, June 6, 1999.</ref> Operating costs made up only 10 percent of Dell's $35 billion in revenue in 2002 ({{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=35000000000|start_year=2002|r=-7|fmt=eq}}), compared with 21 percent of revenue at Hewlett-Packard, 25 percent at Gateway, and 46 percent at Cisco.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jones |first=Kathryn |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2003/02/01/335960/ |title=The Dell Way Michael Dell's famous business model made his company the world's premier computer maker. Now he's branching into new fields and taking on virtually every other hardware manufacturer. Can "the Model" stand the strain? – February 1, 2003 |publisher=CNN |date=February 1, 2003 |access-date=January 9, 2014}}</ref> In 2002, when Compaq merged with Hewlett-Packard (the fourth-place PC maker), the newly combined Hewlett-Packard took the top spot for a time but struggled and Dell soon regained its lead. Dell grew the fastest in the early 2000s.<ref name="bw1103"/>

In 2002, Dell expanded its product line to include televisions, [[handhelds]], digital audio players, and [[Printer (computing)|printers]]. Chairman and CEO Michael Dell had repeatedly blocked President and COO Kevin Rollins's attempt to lessen the company's heavy dependency on PCs, which Rollins wanted to fix by acquiring EMC Corporation; a move that would eventually occur over 12 years later.<ref name="CNNMoney-dilemma">{{cite news |last=Benner |first=Katie |url=http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/13/michael-dells-dilemma/ |title=Michael Dell's dilemma – Fortune Tech |work=Fortune |date=June 13, 2011 |access-date=January 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509093526/http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/13/michael-dells-dilemma/ |archive-date=May 9, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2003, at the annual company meeting, the stockholders approved changing the company name to "Dell Inc." to recognize the company's expansion beyond computers.<ref name="Dell-Inc-May-2003-PRE-14A">{{cite web|url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1992/95013403007092/filing-main.htm |title=Dell Inc, Form PRE 14A, Filing Date May 5, 2003 |publisher=secdatabase.com |access-date =March 8, 2013}}</ref>

In 2004, the company announced that it would build a new assembly-plant near [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]], [[North Carolina]]; the city and county provided Dell with $37.2 million in incentive packages; the state provided approximately $250 million ({{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=250000000|start_year=2004|r=-5|fmt=eq}}) in incentives and tax breaks. In July, Michael Dell stepped aside as [[chief executive officer]] while retaining his position as [[Chair (official)|chairman of the board]].<ref name="Dell-Inc-May-2004-DEF-14A">{{cite web|url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1422/95013404008188/filing-main.htm |title=Dell Inc, Form DEF 14A, Filing Date May 27, 2004 |publisher=secdatabase.com |access-date =March 8, 2013}}</ref> Kevin Rollins, who had held a number of executive posts at Dell, became the new CEO. Despite no longer holding the CEO title, Dell essentially acted as a de facto co-CEO with Rollins.<ref name="CNNMoney-dilemma" />

Under Rollins, Dell purchased the computer hardware manufacturer [[Alienware]] in 2006. Dell Inc.'s plan anticipated Alienware continuing to operate independently under its existing management. Alienware expected to benefit from Dell's efficient manufacturing system.<ref>{{cite news | first=Louise | last=Lee | title= Dell Goes High-end and Hip | date= March 23, 2006 | publisher=BusinessWeek | url=http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060323_034268.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324235058/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2006/tc20060323_034268.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 24, 2006}}</ref>