Chances of another huge dell sale?

I think they were having these crazy sales, because their actual sales, were MUCH lower than the sales forcasts, which would cause their stocks to tumble. I'm sure that they had a big boost from the last few deals, but seeing as how they are putting up the new $500 off $1500 desktop deal, they don't seem to be satisfied just quite yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see some more deals come up before the end of this fiscal quarter, but I wouldn't hold my breath for a $750 off. That one truely might have been a "Once in a lifetime opportunity" as stated by Dell themselves in the coupon emails.

When does Dell's financial quarter end?

The 40% off was once in a lifetime...I saved something like $-1560 or something...insane.

Oct. 31st

1 more week, lets cross our fingers.....

i need a flat screen panel

I just check on techbargains.com every day (i'm really bored at work) to scout out any good deals, that's how I found out about the $750 deal. If there are any good deals they'll be listed there.

How would giving a high discount - likely below cost on some models - make up for a sales shortfall? The company is judged on revenues, margin and profit. Giving a big discount -might- increase revenue if it drives a higher increase in sales relative to the discount - but it kills margin and profits. Dell's too smart financially to make that mistake.

Dell hasn't missed numbers in over 2 years. I doubt they're at risk of missing them now. I figure they've offered these deals to attract new customers, generate some buzz, and increase their lead in market share over their competitors.

Whatever the case - I'm happy they've offered what they have. My new laptop should be here this week!

I doubt they are selling any laptops below their costs. In fact I think it costs dell only 500 bucks to make a laptop these days.

Do quarterly reports give out margins and profits?

I'm sure dell has thought it out before they launched the promos

Not to mention, almost no one buys the base model. Everyone does a little upgrade to the processor, the screen and the video card. Some even do the HD and RAM and throw in a spare battery and some other accessories. And don't forget the 3 and 4 year complete care warranties. All that stuff adds up, especially considering how much they overcharge for upgrades.

In this deal, the more you upgraded, the less percentage discount you would get. To get %50 off you'd have to settle for the $1,500 specs. The best thing about this deal was no huge mail-in-rebates (just the small $49 shipping rebate).

I saw one post on Fatwallet that said there might be one more big sale coming up, but I have no idea if that's true. It's not impossible though, since the quarter is not quite over yet.

If there is another sale, I may have a tough time resisting a 700M to go with my 9100.

that's my theory too. it was to liquidate their inventory, attract new customers, GENERATE BUZZ (i think they are the king of marketing), and increase the lead in the market. just because deal is in the lead is why i think they can actually do this.

i also think that they also don't offer aluminum cases (more durable), so that customers can come back in 2 years (instead of 4 or whatever) and buy another notebook. i mean how much more would it cost dell to offer an aluminum chassis comapred to plastic? i'm guessing it'll cost no more than $30 to offer aluminum cases and, in turn, they could markup their notebooks by $150 more or whatever.

oh and back to the original question, i would say no.. dell will not have another huge promotion on their notebook lines (at least for a long time). the first 500 + $200 mir deal lasted 3 hours before the coupon code was taken off. i think they did this to see how hard the consumers wil "bite" ... then 2 weeks later they offer a $750 coupon based on the results of the first promotion (as in they knew what to expect and achieved their goal in sales).

but, after the first 500 + 200 mir deal, i would have said "no they won't have this deal again.. not for a while" .. so who knows?

Dell's gross profit margin - the average difference between what they sell a product for and what it costs them to make it - is around 17% (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=DELL 7.55b in gross profit / 45b in gross revenue). That includes high margin stuff like the warranties and accessories Bloke mentioned. It wouldn't be uncommon for them to sell some products at or below cost in the hopes that you'd add other stuff that has a nice profit on it. Kind of like McDonalds - they might sell you a hamburger at cost, but they make a lot of money on the coke and fries.

I just don't think Dell's coupon had anything to do with fears of missing numbers. I could be wrong, but it just doesn't add up to me.

I think they had those coupons partially b/c of the new series of laptops coming out ie 9200. It is to liquidate inventory

whatever the reason was , i am glad they did it , i saved $800 on my inspiron 8600.

I agree I bought an 8600 too. If the 9200 had the same deal though I wouldve bought it. Its a beautiful laptop IMHO