John Moore (page 1 of 2)

1. How much will Dell sales expand in the Middle East this year? And what are your sales targets for the next few years?

EMEA is a focus for Dell and over the last Quarter, it has contributed 19% of Dell's revenue. Dell's commitment to EMEA continues to be strong.

Whilst we are unable to comment on specific regional figures, in the last quarter, Dell were ranked Number two in the Middle East across all form factors with a market share of 9%.

2. Do you think the current international emergency will impact on your business here? How are you responding to it?

We believe that it's too early to be commenting on any specific impact to business and our primary concern following this tragic event was related to human loss.

Dell has made every effort to ensure those affected by the events are assisted as quickly as possible. Our Customer records allow us to advise our Customers on their specific IT requirements and our internal business processes enabled us to prioritise urgent fulfilment of our affected Customers orders. Dell remains committed to supporting the businesses affected through technology and Dell's charitable contributions.

Dell's internal business systems were not affected and our operations continue to function. Dell continues to believe in the opportunity presented by the Middle East and it is businesses as usual in the region.

3. Dell was very aggressive in cutting its prices in the face of the IT downturn. Was this the right strategy? And what will it deliver for Dell and the consumer here?

Dell's core focus continues to be to meet the needs of our customers through delivering the highest quality products at great prices with the best possible service and support - we are totally focused on delivering the best possible Customer Experience. Whilst we continue to focus on our entire product range including desktops, notebooks, workstations, servers, and storage, we are experiencing rapid growth in Enterprise (server and storage) products, and in our notebooks.

Our market leading build-to-order business model gives us fundamental advantages in terms of being able to achieve this core focus, whilst at the same time driving the most competitive prices and growing our market share. Our recent results have shown that our strategy is working as we continue to grow at multiples of the overall market, and we continue to grow our market share profitably.

For customers in the Middle East this means a continued focus from Dell and our partners on delivering the best possible Customer Experience, providing the highest quality products at great prices with the best possible service and support.

4. What is Dell's view of the impending HP/Compaq marriage? And do you expect more shotgun weddings in the sector?

We are not commenting on any of the specifics of the proposed acquisition. The proposed acquisition is an extension of the consolidation that has been occurring in our industry for several years. This consolidation trend has been forced by expressed customer preference for quality products based industry standards (including server and storage products), coupled with great service, offered at a low cost; this proposed acquisition is a continuation of that trend.

At the same time, customers have been making clear statements about which companies provide the best product quality, service and cost, and Dell has been the primary beneficiary of those choices.

We intend to continue executing our current strategy of offering customers a high-quality range of products, combined with great service, for a low price.