Dell, Inc, which was ranked the 25th largest company on the Fortune 500 list by Forbes magazine, began its cosmic rise in 1984 when Michael Dell used a mere $1000 dollars to found PC’s Limited. Working in a college dorm room at the University of Texas, Michael Dell had a goal to produce IBM compatible computers from stock components to suit individual customer needs.

The company vision was to produce computers that could easily be fitted with individual components to build a computer system to accommodate individual requirements. The goal was to give the customer exactly what they needed or wanted. The computers were built from stock parts as they were ordered. In 1985, the founder dropped out of school, got a family loan for $300,000 dollars and began to give his full attention to the new company.

Later the same year the company introduced its first company designed computer, the Turbo PC. The computer boasted an Intel 8088 processor that ran at an impressive speed of 8MHz. And it sold in the United States for $795 dollars. The computer systems, which were advertised in computer magazines nationally, were purchased through direct sales. Given a list of options, the customers choose the components they wanted and the computers were built as they were ordered. By ordering the components wholesale, they company was able to provide great pricing, which proved to be much lower than their competitors’. The company’s business formula proved to be a great success and the first year of trading they grossed more that $73 million dollars.

Ireland welcomed the new company in 1987, and became the first of many international operations. 1988 ushered in the new company name, Dell Computer Corporation and this company with humble beginnings grew from a $30 million dollar company to a company worth $90 million dollars. Although the company attempted to market their computers via warehouse club stores and superstores, the public, now used to having the ability to choose and build as they wanted, did not respond as hoped and the company returned to direct sales.

Dell’s 10th anniversary was celebrated in 1994 with the release of a brand new logo. And 1996 found the company selling the popular computer systems direct to the customer on Dell’s own internet website. When the company acquired Compaq in 1999 they became known as the top seller of personal computer systems in the United States.

2002 became the year of company expansion as Dell began to also provide such products as televisions, digital audio players and computer printers. The following year, 2003 the company became known as Dell Inc. in an effort to acknowledge the company’s expansion into other products. The year 2004 saw a new manufacturing assembly plant near Winston- Salem, North Carolina and Michael Dell while deciding to appoint Kevin Rollins as new CEO, decided to retain the position of Chairman of the Board. In 2007 CEO Kevin Rollins resigned and Michael Dell resumed his position as CEO. Dell is also one of the largest suppliers of dedicated servers to web hosting companies.

While true that Dell Inc. has experienced some trouble spots in the past few years, the company continues to be one of the largest computer manufacturers due mainly to the long record of customer satisfaction. While others have adopted the model of direct sales, Dell Inc. continues to be the most successful and the most popular.

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