Dell denies PC exit will fund EMC deal
Dell issues company-wide email to staff reiterating commitment to PC business
Dell has denied it is pulling out of the PC market to fund its EMC buy, sending an email to staff with a number of bullet points designed to clarify any misunderstandings from customers and partners.
Dell's vice chairman for operations Jeff Clarke admitted rumours have circulated that his firm is no longer interested in PCs, but directly denied them.
In an email to staff entitled "We love the PC business", which has been made public on EMC's investor relations page, Clarke said:
"You may have seen reports in the last couple of days speculating on our PC business," he said. "Let me assure you our commitment to the PC business and investment in innovation has never been stronger. This is evidenced in our 11 consecutive quarters of year-on-year share gain worldwide, recent launch of the industry-leading XPS family, and our involvement in the ‘PC Does What?'campaign."
The latter is a joint advertising effort from Dell, Lenovo and HP to reinvigorate PC sales.
In his company-wide email, Clarke gave staff a few "talking points" they can use to rebuff any concerns raised by partners or customers.
Some of the topics of conversation provided by Clarke include Dell's latest XPS product range and its multimillion-dollar investment in the aforementioned ad campaign.
Another point highlighted by Clarke said: "With the EMC transaction, we'll have leadership positions in servers, storage, virtualisation and PCs, giving us an opportunity to provide the very best solutions to customers from the desktop to the cloud to the datacentre.
"You've told us you want fewer IT vendors to work with - not more. We hear you loud and clear - and we want to be your PC vendor of choice. Dell PCs aren't going anywhere."
Clarke also provided staff with a sample email they can send to any customers or partners who they fear may be worried.
"We've heard from many customers over the past few days regarding speculation driven by the news media that we are selling off our PC business to help finance the EMC transaction," the email reads. "Let me assure you that is not the case. In fact, it couldn't be further from the truth.
"Our commitment to the PC and investment in innovation has never been stronger.Rest assured, we remain committed to you and your technology needs."
In a separate email of a similar nature, Dell founder Michael Dell reiterated the company's commitment to its storage business.
"With the recent announcement of the proposed combination of Dell and EMC, I want you to know that Dell is fully committed to your success and to all of our products and solutions," Dell - the man - said in an email to all Dell storage customers.
"Dell has the most comprehensive storage line-up in our history, and we will continue to both enhance and support all our storage and enterprise offerings. We are committed to ensuring that you get long-term returns from your investments in Dell.
"The combination of Dell and EMC will make Dell an enterprise powerhouse, and you, our customers, will be the winners."