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Bill's Blog: Dell sets sights on Generation Y

Bill Magee | Sunday August 10, 2008



A highly informative and entertaining talk the other day on technological innovation to a private Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce gathering by Microsoft’s tech tools and development guru Mark Quirk got me thinking about Generation Y.
It’s been said, more than once, how key the attitudes of this 18-to-28-year-olds section of society are to the fortunes of a tech business. Not to mention the entire technology sector.
A follow-up conversation, down the line from Dell’s Round Rock, Texas HQ with the PC giant’s Global Environment, Safety and Health Director Dane Parker, exclusively to Hi-Tech Scotland, has re-emphasised this imperative.
Our chat left me with little doubt that Dell is targetting Generation Y, but in the realms of encouraging them to be more environmentally aware when it comes to utilising the technology at their fingertips.
A new survey by Forrester, the independent research body, claims that those belonging to that age-range “set the pace” when it comes to technology adoption.
“Tech savvy”, they spend more time online than watching TV, nine-out-of-ten own a PC and four-fifths a mobile phone. Crucially, they also represent a company’s “key to future revenue growth”, according to Forrester’s principal analyst Charles Golvin.
However Dell has some way to go. Only one fifth of the company’s $10 billion direct sales worldwide is currently to consumers, the bulk being business.
Nevertheless the American PC company now thinks it has found the route to inspire the younger element through a series of green initiatives. To help save their planet.Parker said that to sell the idea, they have to ensure their product range is both “cool and irresistible” when it comes to attracting the younger consumer.
The executive had just announced that Dell has met its carbon neutral goal ahead of schedule as it bids to be the greenest technology company in the world.
This includes delivering environmental and cost savings for customers, as new standards are set for energy efficiency and green power.
The company is now “driving green” in every aspect of its global business to mitigate the effects of climate change and preserve biodiversity and a sustainable planet.
To this end, Dell claims it is currently saving more than $3 million annually, as it avoids nearly 20,000 tonnes of CO2 through facilities improvements and power-management initiatives.
Parker said bright technology initiatives provides the solution to the challenge from the “sceptics and naesayers” that refuse to buy into the green argument.
Last month Dell launched a new line of “green” computers. The “Studio Hybrid” range uses 70 per cent less power, and is around 80 per cent smaller, than a standard desktop system, as the company continues to shift from standard-sized PCs to notebooks.
For the past 25 years Dell has traditionally preferred the “build-to-order” route of selling PCs to business and commerce – it runs an 850 employee-strong technical call centre operation in Scotland.
But earlier this decade it lost it’s global PC sales crown to Hewlett Packard, and over the last two years became bogged down in judicial and regulatory investigations in the States.
Dell has now overcome those hurdles and lately has switched more to the consumer end of the market, selling in more than 12,000 retail chain stores including Tesco and Carphone Warehouse in Britain.

Bill Magee

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