Picture of dell computer

Identifies four areas potentially worth billions of dollars to his company alone

Michael Dell, the chairman of Dell Computer Corp., says that the impending arrival of broadband access to the Internet gives the computer systems industry a very rosy future.

He was keynote speaker at the opening of PC Expo in New York last month.

According to the founder of the direct-sell PC vendor, Dell said that broadband technologies will give the computer systems industry a bigger boost than when the first Web browsers arrived on the scene in the early 1990s.

The bottom line to these impending new technologies, he told his audience, is that "the greatest days for the computer systems industry are yet to come."

Not unexpectedly, Dell told his listeners that his PC firm is now well- positioned to benefit from the technology advances, and will maintain its current growth patterns.

"The PC is more vital than ever in the workplace and in the home, and I believe that trend will continue unabated. People have been predicting the demise of the PC for years, and they've been wrong for years," he said.

According to Dell, the significance of the PC will increase even as the number and variety of "computing appliances" - including products for wireless communications, paging, schedule management and basic Internet access - continue to proliferate.

Dell envisions a networked world in the future, with a PC at the hub of every home and office.

This will, he said, drive huge productivity gains for companies and for individuals.

"The Internet is changing how businesses work, how consumers buy, how children learn and how families are entertained," he said, adding that it will serve as a turbocharger for already healthy sales of PCs, network servers and other computing systems.

"I believe a revolution is occurring, or should be, in every business, with the Internet as the core."

According to the ever-youthful company chairman, broadband technology, which has just begun to provide Internet users with a dramatically faster, more "robust" online experience, "is the most significant breakthrough for customers and for our industry over the past five to 10 years.

"The increase in broadband capacity will make it possible for users to access the Internet 150 to 500 times faster than most current connections."

Dell said that as broadband service becomes more pervasive, the only remaining logjam between users and an incredibly rich online experience will be on the desktop.

"I'm convinced that huge numbers of home and corporate customers will upgrade their PCs over time to fully exploit the technology," he said.

According to Dell, the worldwide computer systems industry will grow by at least 14 per cent annually for the foreseeable future.

"That's exceptional growth for a $170-billion industry, but it won't be enough to sustain inefficient, ineffective PC makers," he said. A sizable amount of the computer systems industry's growth will occur outside of the U.S., which currently spends about 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product on IT products and services, he said.

Rates in other countries are sharply lower, but will begin to catch up, he said.

He offered China as an example: currently the No. 10 national market in terms of computer sales, it is expected to rank No. 2, behind only the U.S., within five years.

Dell identified four growth opportunities for his company: geographic expansion, increasing sales of enterprise computing systems, an expanded services portfolio and a greater share of the fast-growing consumer PC business.

He said these areas have the potential to add an additional US$10 billion each in annual revenue over time to his company alone.

"The competitive advantages of our direct business model have never been as distinct and extensive as they are today.

"We expect to continue to grow at a multiple of the industry rate, and to do so profitably."