In terms of your growth strategy, what you have described is fairly predictable. Are there some solutions in this area that people aren't thinking about, that you think offers Dell growth potential?
I don't think you'll see us pushing any radical new solution.
It's not how we think our brand adds value to customers. We will stay away from most first-generation usage ideas because it's highly unpredictable what will happen. If the usage model isn't exactly right, it will end up in someone's closet, and people would say, "Why the hell did I spend 1,000 bucks?"
How about video?
We're not ready to announce anything yet, but we are kind of talking to a bunch of folks, and I think we will have some video partnerships in the near to medium time frame.
For downloading movies, for example?
Those are the kind of things we're looking at. Again, that market is a little more immature, but conceptually, there is really no reason we won't do something like that with movies.
I have talked to lots of the traditional CE players, and they say Dell faces two problems. The company has no retail shelf space, and you need it for home consumer electronics. Two, product design. Dell doesn't have a huge history of designing a lot of products for the home and making that emotional connection with consumers. Are those real issues and, if so, how are you directing those?
We are not overly concerned. We think this market will mature like most other markets are maturing. You can debate analogies, but I honestly think that 10 years ago, when you were looking at buying a $3,000 to $4,000 PC, some people said direct sales wouldn't work. We've seen a high level of interest in our products. The competitors can poke fun at our design skills all they want -- which is fine. I think that you judge for yourself. These plasma TVs are fantastic-looking products. I've got a 30-inch LCD in my living room. I don't think anyone would be anything other than thrilled to look at these products and have them in their home.
With everyone getting into this market, are we going to see consolidation and price declines?
Yeah, we will absolutely see it in this market. This is the only prediction I'll make today. A margin decline is a good thing because we have structurally the lowest costs.
