Dell Computer Corp - Early History, Intense Growth, Impact Of The Internet

Dell Computer Corp. is the largest personal computer (PC) vendor in the world, a position it has held since April 2001 when it usurped Compaq Computer Corp. The firm also is the leading seller of PCs via the Internet, a medium that accounts for more than half of Dell's PC sales. In 2000, total revenues reached roughly $32 billion, and employees exceeded 38,000. Although PCs account for roughly 55 percent of Dell's total annual sales, a late-1990s push into the Internet-based server and storage markets has started to pay off for the firm, which now is second only to Compaq in U.S. server sales. Fortune magazine ranked Dell 10th on its list of "Most Admired Companies" in 2001.