By Sonya Rabbitte, 11 August 2000 17:45
NEWS Dell has restructured its supply chain strategy in an effort to combat the continued component shortage crisis, which badly affected the PC giant's sales last year. While Dell yesterday announced a profit increase of 19 per cent and a revenue growth of 25 per cent in second quarter results, sales and operation costs were badly affected in the last quarter of 1999 by an industry wide chip shortage. Speaking to silicon.com, Paul Bell, senior vice president of Dell EMEA, said that the company had taken deliberate measures this year to extend its supply chain. "October and November were a tough time for the industry last year. We lived through that and we learned. We've secured a broader range of supply sources so even if prices go up we're ready. Last year we found ourselves in a number of long term price commitments. Now we're more flexible," he told silicon.com. Bell predicted the component sector would continue to be volatile this year with prices escalating significantly in line with seasonal trends. In February Dell saw its market value plunge $10bn after issuing a profits warning. At the time it blamed Intel for "an uneven and constrained supply of semiconductor components".
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