Re:Microsoft trashes its brand — with Apple the big winner
by swombat on Sunday April 19, 2009 @01:17PM
(#569559)
The bank's supplier for desktop computer hardware was Dell. If Dell could deliver it, it was ordered from Dell. There was no "choice". And yes, it was a list price, no negotiation involved.
There were plenty of competing products in the UK - I could have had a better mouse for cheaper by wandering down to PC World, down the road, and paying £10. But the corporate ordering process didn't allow me to get involved in that - all I could do was express the fact that I needed a mouse with a wheel.
Re:Microsoft trashes its brand — with Apple the big winner
by mechanical_fish on Sunday April 19, 2009 @01:47PM
(#569589)
If Dell could deliver it, it was ordered from Dell.
Well, there you have it. If you are Dell and you secure that exclusive deal, you get to charge high margins on certain incidental products.
Of course, as has been pointed out by olefoo, to get a deal like that Dell probably had to give up a lot of margin on other products. And throw in support contracts, and expend a lot of sales time...
Other questions to put this anecdote in perspective: Was that a list price or the result of a negotiation? What were the competing products in the UK at the time, and why would a bank choose Dell if those products where significantly cheaper?