Dell Acquires Alienware

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2006/2006_03_22_rr_001?c=us&l=en&s=corp
from WinCustomize Forums
"Dell announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alienware to further satisfy the growing number of consumers and businesses seeking the highest-performance PC products, including those used for gaming and multimedia digital content management. Terms of the planned purchase will not be disclosed.

Dell said Alienware will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary following completion of the transaction and will maintain its own product development, product marketing, sales, technical support and other operations as well as brand. The management and founders of Alienware will continue to operate the company as a standalone unit of Dell. "

 
33,677 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Have you ever compared Alienware's purchasing site to Dell's Purchasing site.
SCARY how similar they are..
Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Have you ever asked a dell employee about Alienware..They dont even know the company exsist, only a few at the top know they exsist...go figure..I talked to 3 diffrent dell employees today and not one of them knew about alienware, let alone that it was being aquired.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
. I had a dell a long while ago, and it sucked . I have never owned an Alienware PC except in my dreams . Oh well, the PC I have now works just fine .
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I heard about the possibility a few weeks ago on Rahul Sood's blog (President of Voodoo Computers).
he said it was logical for a quick entry into AMD equipped high end comps for Dull.
Their XPS series hasn't been doing it for them since gamers usually prefer AMD.
Alienware had been slipping from the elite brand ever since they were sold in Best buy.
Now their customer service will be sucking too!
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Actually, it is probably a good move.  Both have very similar sales models, so I think Dell decided to buy, instead of create, its own gaming PC biz.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It should be interesting. I think as long as DELL allows Alienware to continue as it has been, it'll work. I just wonder how long DELL will be able to sit on their hands and not interfere.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/me will sit with a stick and make sure DELL doesn't interfere.

*SMACK!*
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
/me will sit with a stick and make sure DELL doesn't interfere.

*SMACK!*


Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
alienware is badly over-priced... i can build same system they build for half price...
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i can build same system they build for half price


Maybe some of their lower end systems but not the high-end gaming rigs. If you could even get some of the parts they offer there's no way you could beat the price on the whole system. Especially if it's an SLI system etc.

In just some quick looking around the cheapest you'll find an AMD FX-60 is $1011.00. The Alienware Aurora ALX has a base price of $5242. Which means that you claim you can find a similar system for $2621. After buying the processor you now have $1610 to purchase ALL of the rest of your computer parts. Oh BTW, the video cards for your SLI setup will cost you no less than $580 and that is the cheapest 256 MB NVidia 7800 GT I can find at $290 each. Which as most people know if you buy the cheapest parts you won't get the same performance as if you'd bought good quality parts. So, after video cards you now have $1030 to buy everything else in your computer. Are you getting the feeling you aren't going to be able to do it, cause I sure am...

So, I think it's safe to say you cannot beat Alienwares *complete* system price and hope to get anywhere near the performance that their systems offer. The key word here is *complete*. If you're starting off with most of the parts already and only need to pick up a few items then of course you can get it for less than an entire new Alienware system. But if you need the whole thing you simply can't beat the price discounts offered to these system builders that order hundreds and even thousands of these parts at a time.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
And you're not getting just the system, but someone to yell at if it should go wrong. That's the best part!
Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Are you getting the feeling you aren't going to be able to do it, cause I sure am...


sure im not gonna do it if i buy my parts from Best Buy etc... but i get my parts from small computer shop vendors and get great deals... they are always willing to drop their prices...
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If I had a bunch of spare time to figure out what parts are compatible with each other, I'd build my own. But I just looked on newegg for motherboards, and there are way too many things to choose from. Most of which I don't know the meaning of.

I don't think I'd spend $5k on an Alienware, but maybe a good Dell, especially after this deal. Seems like it would be better for Dell than Alienware.
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
For starters I am a Dell employee, and I havea credit account both with Dell and Alienware respectivly. I follow both companies very closely when it comes to new products and what not. As for who this deal will work out for, it mainly helps dell, but allows alienware to have access to more money for funding. This bold move will also make it so dell starts selling AMD based machines. We are already getting shipments to our warranty facility in Cincinnatti, Ohio, where I work for warranty fufillment.
Darth Videlous
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
but i get my parts from small computer shop vendors and get great deals... they are always willing to drop their prices


This makes me think you've never actually built a PC before. The prices I quoted are the lowest prices I could find at some of the bigger online parts sites, eg newegg.com and zipzoomfly.com. These sites are almost ALWAYS lower in price than your local mom and pop shop because they can offer the parts cheaper because they do 100 times the volume of any little local computer shop. So, if you think you can build an ENTIRE system that can compete with a high end alienware system feel free, but I really doubt you can.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This bold move will also make it so dell starts selling AMD based machines


I wouldn't call it a *bold* move. Maybe a slick business maneuver, but there's nothing bold about it. DELL has been looking for a way to offer AMD chips for quite some time but they are so thoroughly entrenched with Intel that they couldn't risk creating product lines that incorporate AMD chips without risking their relationship with Intel. So, this purchase gives them that opportunity.

Also, this looks like DELL's last ditch effort at getting some of the gaming market they have been striving for recently. The XPS is a complete flop in that respect. I know lots of people that work at DELL being I live in Austin, TX and the ones that are in the know agree with this. I only know 1 person who has an XPS and it's the laptop. This person is not a gamer at all, in fact she's a friends mother. Anywho, it is my personal opinion that this is DELL's last shot to get their gaming line going. If they can't keep the good people from Alienware and if they can't get Alienware's support back to the high standards it used to be known for this purchase will be nothing but a big flop for DELL.

Only time will tell but it should be interesting to see how the other high-end gaming companies respond to this. The entrance of DELL into what has been a fairly niche market could spell the end of the high end custom built PC as we know it.