I have a meeting to attend......

[OAS]

The professor was asking for examples of companies that haven't done well, and those that have.

For the large companies that haven't I brought up how HP and Compaq have handled the use of the Internet for an industry that was tailor-made to exploit it. They just stood there and watched Dell pass them by.

Well young MBA student before you get all upity, look at the "whole" picture.

Why did Dell pass them bye in market share? Remember, Dell has no manufacturing or research facilities. They buy all of their components from third parties, therefore having minimal overhead, thus forcing prices down in the market. Dell's major costs are contract labor for assembly and warranty costs. Thus, very low profit margins.

And did HP and Compaq loose on this deal. No. Agilent and Compaq are one of the leading suppliers to dell for circuit board product. While Dell get's market share, Compaq, now HP make a fortune. Dell servers are designed by Compaq engineers. When Compaq research scraps a server design, they sell it to Dell.

Remember young MBA, look at the whole picture.