Acquisition

Dell Inc. continued its upward financial trend, posting record revenue numbers during its first fiscal quarter of 2004. The company, which ended fiscal year 2004 with more than $41 billion in revenue, posted $11.5 billion in sales in the quarter ended April 30, 2004. This is a 21 percent increase over the same period last year. Dell, which is working toward annual revenues of $60 billion, earned $731 million for the quarter; a 22 percent increase over the first quarter of 2004.

This impressive increase was the result of a combination of growing corporate spending, growth in overseas markets, and continued market share growth - particularly in key areas such as servers and printers. Printer sales were surprising large, with market share growing faster than any other product in Dell history. After just one year of selling Dell-branded printers, Dell's U.S. market share in inkjet printers is more than 10 percent.

The Personal Computer industry has witnessed rapid growth since its inception in 1974. PC unit sales grew from under 500,000 units in 1980 to over 60 million units in 2003. Both hardware and software technology has improved substantially over this period. For example, the microprocessors used in the first-generation personal computers have been continuously improved upon. Each new microprocessor is associated with increased processing speed, enabling the development and use of operating systems that are more sophisticated. The proliferation of

eller brand personal computers (Musthaler, 51). Some personal computer manufacturers that sell to consumers directly and through distribution or retail are damaging competition within their distribution channel with last-minute, special deals that hurt distributors and solution providers according to executives at Computer Reseller News' annual Distribution Roundtable. In many cases, a solution provider will have almost finalized a deal with an end-user when the manufacturer learns about the deal and steps in to undercut the solution provider with a better price. The solution provider or distributor pay receives a finder's fee - which in some cases is less than the company would have received if it was allowed to complete the sale. This predatory practice may result in manufacturers generating a bit more revenue. However, it usually results in a lower cost to the end user combined with lower margins to all parties - including the PC manufacturer that created the problem (Campbell, 16). Political Kevin Murphy of ComputerGram Weekly explains that while the Microsoft antitrust lawsuit was being heard at the District of Columbia District Court after Microsoft was partially successful in its appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals, th