Dell‘s plan to take the computer giant private offers an opportunity to return to its start-up roots, but won’t solve the fundamental problems facing the company and the PC sector, analysts say.

The Texas-based tech giant on Tuesday unveiled a $24.4 billion buyout deal giving founder Michael Dell a chance to reshape the former number one PC maker away from the spotlight of Wall Street.

Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint Technologies, said Dell‘s plan underscores the deep problems of an industry roiled by a rapid shift to mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, and away from traditional PCs.

“It’s an illustration of how tough the PC business is, that Dell had to take this extreme step,” Kay said.

Kay said that without the pressure of meeting quarterly financial targets, Dell can focus on more profitable PC segments as it tries to reinvent itself as a services and software company.

“Michael has been trying to turn Dell into a supplier of enterprise solutions for a long time,” said Kay. “He has pleaded with Wall Street to give him time.”

Kay told AFP that going private would make a transition easier by avoiding the spotlight of “ugly results” which could come from scaling back the PC business.

“The commodity PC business has been suffering,” Kay said.

“Dell may probably keep the higher margin consumer lines but maybe look at rest of the portfolio.”Shaw Wu, analyst with Sterne Agee, said Dell has a difficult task ahead.

“Despite the company‘s strong efforts to transform itself... we estimate that about 70 percent of its business is tied to PCs,” Wu said in a note to clients.

“On the positive, we believe going private takes the company out of the quarter-to-quarter grind of being a publicly traded company. But on the negative, not having publicly traded stock could make it more difficult to make larger, transformative acquisitions.”

Wu said that as a private firm, Dell’s cash would be needed to pay equity investors and service debt, noting: “We are not sure going private improves the company‘s fundamental position.”

Darren Hayes, a Pace University computer science professor and former investment banker, said that by going private, “you’re not subject to a lot of regulation, you don‘t have to answer to your shareholders, so maybe you can be more nimble in strategy.”

He noted that “Dell has struggled because of Apple and Lenovo, so this might be a way to trim costs and regain some ground.”

The computer maker, which Dell started in his college dormitory room, once had a market capitalization of $100 billion as the world’s biggest PC producer.

Dell is now the number three global PC maker, behind Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, according to the latest report from market tracker IDC, showing Dell‘s market share of 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

HP said in a statement that Dell “has a very tough road ahead” and “an extended period of uncertainty and transition that will not be good for its customers,” adding that HP “plans to take full advantage of that opportunity.”

Chinese maker Lenovo said it would not comment on a competitor but maintained that “we remain as always confident in our strategy, our ability to deliver compelling and innovative products and our overall position and performance.”

Rob Enderle, a tech analyst and consultant, said however that the deal suggests “tighter coupling of Dell and Microsoft,” which is providing a $2 billion loan toward the buyout.

“Surface was created because Microsoft didn’t think the (PC makers) were listening. Dell will now be listening and Microsoft is likely to listen to Dell better as well,” Enderle said.

“But the goal is to put Dell back in start-up mode... Both will target Apple and Google as a team which is where their combined power is likely to be made visible.” (AFP)



<관련 한글 기사>



PC시대 종말예고? 세계3위 델 팔려..

세계 3위의 개인용 컴퓨터(PC) 제조업체인 델이 창업자인 마이클 델과 사모펀드인 실버레이크에 244억달러(26조5천억원 가량)에 매각됐다고 마이클 델이 5일(현지시간) 밝혔다.

마이크로소프트(MS)도 이번 거래에 20억달러를 투자했다.

이번 매각은 2008년 글로벌 금융위기 이후 이뤄진 차입매수거래(LBO) 가운데 최대 규모다.

마이클 델은 “이번 매각이 델과 고객들에게 새로운 역사의 장을 열 것”이라고 말했다.

델은 이번 매각 협상 타결로 비상장사로 전환되며, 델의 기존 주주들은 주당 13 .65달러를 받게 된다. 이는 델 주식이 마지막 거래된 지난 1월11일의 종가 10.88달러보다 25%가량 높은 금액이다.

델의 지분 16%를 보유하고 있는 마이클 델은 델의 최고경영자(CEO) 자리를 유지 할 것으로 보인다. 마이크로소프트가 이번 거래에 투자한 것은 자사의 윈도 경쟁력을 강화하기 위한 포석이라는게 중론이다.

차입매수거래 방식은 매수자금의 대부분을 매수할 기업의 자산을 담보로 조달해 부실기업을 매수한뒤 구조조정을 통해 정상화하는 방식이다.

델은 모바일 기기와 개인용 컴퓨터 시장에서는 애플과 삼성 등에 밀렸으며, 기업용 하드웨어 시장에서는 IBM과 오라클 등에 뒤져 지난해 31%가량 주가가 폭락했다. (연합뉴스)