Dell To Establish Retail, After-Sale Centers For PC Customers Throughout China

Dell will set up more than 1,000 retail stores in China this year that will showcase Dell's enterprise and consumer PC products as well as Dell applications, according to a report in the The Global Times. Dell's Greater China President Yang Chao reportedly said Dell will establish 1,000 after-sale outlets offering IT support and maintenance for its end user customers, in small cities throughout China.

Dell in April will showcase several tablet and smartphone devices that are slated to launch in China in the second half of this year. Dell says it is looking to grow its sales margins and overall revenue in China, rather than merely shipping more units.

“We are focused on profitable growth, not unit share,” a Dell spokesperson told American-Statesman. “We are not interested in very low-margin unit share growth. We are interested in profitable growth and that is where we are focused. We are not participating in the very low-end that drives a lot of units. That is true for us in China and around the world.”

Dell recently lost market share to Lenovo and Acer, the top two PC manufacturers in the Chinese market. Acer recently surpassed Dell for the number two spot in China's PC marketwith 8 percent market share, while Dell's share slipped from 10 percent to 7.5 percent, according to research firm IDC. Meanwhile, Lenovo leads with over 32 percent market share in China.

Yang reportedly said he was confident that Dell's fortunes in the Chinese market would be reversed this year, citing Dell's expectations that consumer demand will improve, especially in smaller cities and rural areas.

Dell previously said it will expand its operations in western China, which overall is both less urbanized and less developed than eastern China. In the fall of 2010, Dell said it plans to add 3,000 more workers to its Chinese workforce, which currently includes 6,000 employees.

According to IDC, Dell currently holds the second largest share of the worldwide PC market share at 16 percent and Lenovo is fourth with 8.7 percent global market share, which is up 0.5 percent since the end of 2010. HP is first with 19.8 percent and Acer is third with approximately 10 percent market share.