Dell Buys Alienware

[JohnXDoe]

So I guess the big little gaming rig company has a new boss:

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060322/20060322005981.html?.v=1

Question is, what is Dells motive? Sure it may ehance thier image with some consumers, but they have their own brand of gaming computers they have been heavily promoting lately. So they kind of bought out the competetion, but are allowing it to survive and flourish.

So I'm wondering if Dell will trickle down into Alienware or if Alienware will trickle up into Dell? I can't believe Dell, being number 28 on the Fortune 500 list of companies, wanted to aquire Alienware to enhance it's bottom line. And it wouldn't make sense to do it to enhance your image with gamers, as they will always make up a very small percentage of people who buy computers in the global scheme of things. Which is where Dell plays ball.

So, just where is Dell going with this? Do any of you have any more info on the deal? Was this nothing more then a vanity purchase for Dell? And what does it mean for the future of Alienware? Although it will be left to operate on
it's own, I would think changes are coming.

Very strange bedfellows....

[Rrrrrrr]

With all the promoting they've been doing of the XPS line, this doesn't make much sense. Maybe they hope to eliminate some of the competition by taking over their bank accounts or something.

[Let's Chop Cats!]

Has this been officially announced? I've only heard rumors/speculation.

Odds are if this does happen they'll keep Alienware the way it is now and Dell will just pickup the checks. At most I could see Dell disolving their XPS line and making Alienware their official performance/gaming line.

[JohnXDoe]

^That's what I was thinking. And yes, the deal is as good as done.

Dell could also be looking into the future a bit here. With Vista coming and every computer needing a graphics card of some sort, the average desktop might become a budget gaming rig of sorts. No other major box company except Dell really heavily promotes a gaming line like Dells XPS. Which is well structured and put together. So with AW under their belt now, perhaps when the time comes they'll be ready to kick their image up a notch by not just offering the standard Vista machine, but a gaming Vista machine. It's perhaps just smart marketing, considering the hardware requirements which will see Vista in. And they can promote Dell desktops to n00bs as The Power Machine, or some crap.

Vista has been pushed back to early 2007, btw. So much for the computer industry pushing all those shiny new Vista machines for Christmas this year....

[standard]

What to say..


Both are retarded. Dell are ****, and Alienware are VERY overpriced.

[TheBlueBaron]

I'm of the view that they are buying out the competition. I don't think there is any other reason for it. Dell could easily supply computers with the same specifications as an Alienware computer. The only other thing I could think of is the image. Dell isn't seen as a gaming company so with this buyout of Alienware they are immediately making people think that you should go to Dell for your gaming computer.

Dell are just trying to corner the market. The first company that spings to mind with computer building is Dell and the first company that spings to mind for gaming computers is Alienware. It's a winning combination that is sure to bring more business to Dell allowing it to grow even more.

As a builder of systems myself, I wouldn't go to either company for a computer. I'm sure most enthusiasts don't go to companies like Dell to build computers for them, they purchase the parts and build it themselves. The only reason a person buys an Alienware computer is to show off, you can build your own system that performs better for less.

[Rats!]

Gonzalez and Aguila, who is the company's president, have heard the criticism about "selling out" and going corporate, but they say they still are in touch with their roots.

So much for that, I guess.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_hi_te/alienware

[JohnXDoe]

So much for that, I guess.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060313/ap_on_hi_te/alienware
That was a very interesting read. I think what it came down to for the owners (I had no idea Alienware was still a privately owned company) was it was time to either go public in a global marketplace, or cash in and get out, as both oppurtunities seemed to be there. Guess the sure thing won out.


EDIT: something tells me someone at Dell/Alienware saw this coming:

http://www.dell.com/
http://www.alienware.com/

[AA-12]

One word, Monopoly.