I was visiting my neighborhood Wal-Mart last night and noticed an interesting find. A large display in the front of the store had four boxes full of Dell Computers. These computers featured 19″ LCD’s and Athlon 64-bit processors.
This week, the retail giant launched its newest partnership with Dell. This inherently ends the lack of brick & mortar purchasing options for the computer maker. Dell originally profited on its direct to home and direct to business philosophy. The computer maker allowed customers to purchase a custom built PC and have it shipped to their house within weeks. But as of late, Dell has lost marketshare to competitors like HP and eMachines.
In any event, seeing Dell at Wal-Mart will help increase Dell’s profits but may in the end hurt the brand’s image. When was the last time you saw a discount retailer attempt to sell the newest MacBook Pro?