Dell plans to expand retail presence across 1,300 cities, towns

PC maker Dell Technologies is planning to expand its retail coverage across 1,300 cities and towns this year, a senior official of the company said.

"We are present in 1,000 cities and towns in India and we are looking to increase our presence in 300 more cities and towns this year. We have 680 Dell exclusive stores. This year, we plan to add another 100 stores," P Krishnakumar senior vice-president for consumer and small business division (Asia Pacific and Japan), Dell, told PTI.

He said Dell is now reaching out to students in tier III and IV towns in India where it is creating awareness around gaming PC and career options linked to it.

"People were seeing PC (personal computer) as tool for education but now education and gaming are blending together. We are reaching out to 100 colleges to educate youth in tier III and IV cities. All these markets need high-end machines. Today, people are not seeing gaming as frivolous time pass. It is being seen as path to the career," Krishnakumar said.

According to IDC, HP led the market with 31 per cent overall market share, followed by Dell (23 per cent), Lenovo (20.6 per cent), Acer (12 per cent) and Apple (3.9 per cent) in 2018.

Krishnakumar claimed that Dell leads in the gaming PC segment with around 35-38 per cent share in India as per industry estimates.

"Our gaming PC range starts from Rs 75,000 and it can go up to around Rs 5 lakh. Consumers looking for gaming PC in tier III and IV towns are spending to the tune of Rs 1-1.25 lakh a unit. We also offer them finance if they need it. More than affordability, it is about value they see in the gaming PCs," he said.

Last week, Dell unveiled first gaming laptop, Alienware, whose component can be changed like it is done in assembled desktop PC.

"The component will be of desktop grade category in Alienware. We have given consumers option to change configuration of laptop as per their requirement," Krishnakumar said.