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Is Dell really a tech company though? Does selling computing hardware really count as tech these days since Apple would definitely end up being a tech company
by munk-a 5y ago
Is Dell really a tech company though? Does selling computing hardware really count as tech these days since Apple would definitely end up being a tech company under that definition - even with all the other revenue streams it has I think being one of the largest manufacturers of computing hardware would automatically qualify them.
I personally consider "tech companies" to be companies with tech I find interesting to think about - Netflix definitely qualifies under that header, Apple does too owing to producing a huge operating system, Amazon not only has AWS services on offer but they also run a storefront of a staggering scale and were pioneers in how storefronts like that were discovered... Dell - Dell might get grandfathered in as a tech company based on how they were earlyish into the market of web-based computer sales (ala "Dude you're getting a Dell" days) but now a days I assume their tech stack is a pretty ornery customized CMS like thing with a relatively simple order processing system behind it.
- tshaddox 5y agoI’m confused by how at the very end of your comment you seemingly switch to only considering the tech stack of a company’s online ordering system, which seems to me to be always completely irrelevant to whether a company would be considered a “tech company.”
- detaro 5y agoIt's in the context of the first half of the sentence: If "online ordering being interesting" was what made Dell relevant, then the fact that it isn't interesting today is relevant.
- parasubvert 5y agoDell takes in a $94 billion dollars in annual revenue across several lines of business and is the 4th biggest “tech” company by revenue after Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet. Facebook is 5th (“tech”?), then Intel, IBM, HP, Cisco. Only half of that revenue is from “Dude you’re getting a Dell” - PC (and network / peripheral) sales. DellEMC (mostly enterprise storage or hyperconverged hardware and software) top line is $35 billion or so of that number. The rest is VMware and other software / services. Simple order processing it is not, it’s like saying a Google is “just search and ads”. Somewhat true, but misses a lot.
- vel0city 5y agoSuggesting Dell is just a customized CMS thing is like saying Netflix is just an account registration tool. They're not just reselling equipment designed and made by other companies, they actually make a ton of things as in making actually new technologies. Maybe not things you touch on a day to day basis, but they make tons of things nonetheless.
- burntoutfire 5y agoApple is not manufacturing any computers, only designing and marketing them. Foxconn et all is manufacturing the Apple-branded computers.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]