Dell is hiring 500 people!....in China. (Austin: home, buying, closing)

[jobert]

Dell hiring 500 in China, investing $100B - Austin Business Journal

some highlights:

- the company plans to invest more than $100 billion in China during the next 10 years.

- Dell is completing the closing of a manufacturing plant in North Carolina that once employed nearly 1,000 workers and that the jobs are being outsourced to Mexico and other countries.

To be fair, they still employee 14,000 people in central Texas, though. I'm just wondering what people's thought are about this company and where it's heading.

[woodinvilleguy]

this is pretty typical of all large companies. Although it is getting more expensive to operate in China and India. Some companies are starting to bring some manufacturing back to the US where it is cheaper that China. I recently saw that Wham-o now makes pool noodles in the US because it was cheaper. (That was from the Daily Show so YMMV)

[XLadylawX]

And why are they doing this? Likely because WE refuse to pay a higher price for PC's.

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by XLadylawX

And why are they doing this? Likely because WE refuse to pay a higher price for PC's.

IMHO, even if we paid more they would still move manufacturing. The corporation wants to maximize profits.

[trayanh]

It is all about cost reduction, but probably they can save money by downsizing their HR department, which is way too huge and way low productive...

BTW, Dell is a great company to creat the current mode of computer market. Before Dell's time, PCs were too expensive and basically no customerization.

Originally Posted by jobert

Dell hiring 500 in China, investing $100B - Austin Business Journal

some highlights:

- the company plans to invest more than $100 billion in China during the next 10 years.

- Dell is completing the closing of a manufacturing plant in North Carolina that once employed nearly 1,000 workers and that the jobs are being outsourced to Mexico and other countries.

To be fair, they still employee 14,000 people in central Texas, though. I'm just wondering what people's thought are about this company and where it's heading.

[trayanh]

It is the time for your guys to stand up and support the local business now. Instead of buying IBM, Apple, HP, Toshiba, Acer...., go buy Dell

Originally Posted by XLadylawX

And why are they doing this? Likely because WE refuse to pay a higher price for PC's.

[Houston3]

I had a very small part time business years ago and got out of it because it seemed ever government agency out there wanted to control me...(it was more they wanted their hands in my pockets) I can understand some companies wanting to leave this country...

[austinnerd]

One has to look at Dell and the industry it's in and the niche it serves in that industry. Dell is a Windows PC maker (yes they have servers and they're getting into services, but PC's are still their bread and butter) who has made their bed for years in a cut throat slim margined industry. So now the chickens are coming home to roost and now margins are getting squeezed so tightly that they have to resort to things like this in order to compete. To simply classify this as being caused by "people being cheap" is an oversimplification. It's Dell resting on it's laurels too long and not appreciating just how easy a market it is for large Asian companies to use their cheap labor/manufacturing to eeek out the smallest of profits. It's Chinese companies who are willing to make nearly nothing on a product that they can produce cheaper anyway simply to gain market share and drive volume. In many ways Dell is reacting too late, folks will generally not pay a premium for the Dell name (or at least not much of one), so they are not likely to fare well if they try to go upscale. So their main choice for shoring up the bottom line is to make labor cheaper (at least in the short/medium term). Dell is basically a one trick pony, a company that had a great idea at the perfect time but over time has shown that they can't really grow beyond that.

Either that or Michael Dell simply cursed himself by his infamous statement about Apple back in 1997.

[eileenkeeney]

Originally Posted by XLadylawX

And why are they doing this? Likely because WE refuse to pay a higher price for PC's.

Really it is because most of us put getting a good price above keeping jobs in the US, when we make our purchasing decisions.

Personally, I would pay more for a US made product, if I felt it helped keep jobs in the US.
We could all help our fellow citizens keep their jobs, if we cared about that more than getting the best deal for ourselves.
In fact, we could all help our fellow citizens have decent working conditions, by considering that when we make our purchasing choices.

Consumers could be the most powerful force in the market place.
But first we would have to care.
Then we would need information (we are easily fed false information, often via a set of individual true facts, that the normal mind will draw false conclusions from.)

Individually I have tried, and failed, to base my own purchasing decisions on what was best for the country, as opposed to what was best for me.
I even acted incorrectly, based on information I later found to be mis-represented.

[trayanh]

not exactly.

even if you are willing to pay more, they are still going that way. their ultimate goal is to maximize their profit. Money talks!

Originally Posted by eileenkeeney

Really it is because most of us put getting a good price above keeping jobs in the US, when we make our purchasing decisions.

Personally, I would pay more for a US made product, if I felt it helped keep jobs in the US.
We could all help our fellow citizens keep their jobs, if we cared about that more than getting the best deal for ourselves.
In fact, we could all help our fellow citizens have decent working conditions, by considering that when we make our purchasing choices.

Consumers could be the most powerful force in the market place.
But first we would have to care.
Then we would need information (we are easily fed false information, often via a set of individual true facts, that the normal mind will draw false conclusions from.)

Individually I have tried, and failed, to base my own purchasing decisions on what was best for the country, as opposed to what was best for me.
I even acted incorrectly, based on information I later found to be mis-represented.