Dell 2009 Annual Report Download - page 10

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Table of Contents
• Financial Services
We offer or arrange various customer financial services for our business and consumer customers in the U.S. through Dell
Financial Services L.L.C. ("DFS"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell. DFS offers a wide range of financial services, including
originating, collecting, and servicing customer receivables related to the purchase of Dell products. DFS offers private label
credit financing programs through an unrelated, nationally chartered bank, to qualified consumer and Commercial customers
and offers leases and fixed-term financing to Commercial customers. Financing through DFS is one of many sources of funding
that our customers may select. For additional information about our financing arrangements, see "Part II — Item 7 —
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Financing Receivables" and
Note 4 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in "Part II — Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary
Data."
To support the financing needs of our customers internationally, we have aligned with a select number of third party financial
services companies. These financial services companies work directly with our customers to originate and service financing
arrangements, enabling customers to finance and purchase Dell products and services.
For additional information about our products and services, see "Part II — Item 7 — Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations — Segment Discussion — Revenue by Product and Services Categories," and Notes 4 and 14 of
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in "Part II — Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
Geographic Operations
Our global corporate headquarters are located in Round Rock, Texas. We have operations all over the world and conduct business in
many countries located in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other geographic regions. We have invested in high growth
countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, or "BRIC," and we expect to continue our global expansion in the years ahead. Our
continued expansion outside of the U.S. creates additional complexity in coordinating the design, development, procurement,
manufacturing, distribution, and support of our increasingly complex product and service offerings. We intend to continue to expand our
global capabilities as our international business continues to grow. For additional information on our product and service offerings, see
"Products and Services — Manufacturing and Materials" and "Part I — Item 2 — Properties." For information about percentages of
revenue we generated from our operations outside of the U.S. for each of the last three fiscal years, see "Part II — Item 7 —
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Results of Operations."
Competition
We operate in an industry in which there are rapid technological advances in hardware, software, and service offerings and face on-going
product and price competition in all areas of our business from branded and generic competitors. We compete based on our ability to
offer profitable and competitive solutions to our customers that provide the most current and desired product features, as well as on
customer service, quality, and reliability. This is enabled by our direct relationships with customers, which allow us to recognize
changing customer needs faster than many of our competitors. This connection with our customers allows us to best serve customer needs
and is one of our competitive advantages.
We are committed to balancing our mix of products and services to optimize profitability, liquidity, and growth. We believe this strategy
will help us achieve higher margins, but may put pressure on our industry unit share position for personal computers and servers at
certain times.
Sales and Marketing
We sell our products and services directly to customers through our online store at www.dell.com, dedicated sales representatives,
telephone-based sales, and through a variety of indirect sales channels. Our customers include large
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