Alienware
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alienware Corporation | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Dell |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Kendall, Florida |
| Key people | Nelson Gonzalez, Founder Alex Aguila, Founder Arthur Lewis, General Manager Frank Azor, EVP |
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Products | Desktops Workstations Notebooks Peripherals |
| Employees | ~700 worldwide |
| Parent | Dell, Inc. |
| Website | www.alienware.com |
Alienware is an American computer hardware company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell, Inc.[1] It mainly produces desktops and laptops designed for high-performance gaming and graphically intense applications such as video editing, simulation, and audio editing. Alienware also offers for sale computer peripherals, such as headsets, computer mice, monitors and keyboards. In the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a prototype was presented of what is being described as a "giant 'curved' widescreen", i.e. a display which would be equivalent in size to two, slightly bent 24-inch LCD screens glued together[2] Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila. Alienware's corporate headquarters is located in Kendall, Florida, an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County west of the city of Miami.
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[edit] History
Established in 1996, Alienware assembles high performance desktops, notebooks and workstations. According to employees, the Alienware name was chosen because of the founders' fondness for the hit television series The X-Files, hence the theme to their products, with names such as Area-51, Hangar18, m15x and Aurora.[3]
Alienware was originally established to tap a niche in the high performance game market, which back then was not on the radar of the major PC manufacturers such as Dell. Since high-end game hardware was not widely distributed, the company's founders formed an OEM which sold personal computers with the highest performing hardware and settings according to benchmarks. The company products are not only famous for their hardware configurations, but also for their unique, sci-fi-based designs.
[edit] Acquisition and current status
Dell had been considering buying Alienware since the year 2002, but did not take any action until March 22, 2006, when it agreed to purchase the company.[4] The new subsidiary maintained its autonomy in terms of design and marketing. However Alienware's access to Dell's supply chain, purchasing power, and economies of scale would lower its operating costs.[5]
Initially Dell maintained its competing XPS line of gaming PCs often selling computers with the exact same specifications. In hindsight, the XPS line may have hurt Alienware's market share within its hi-end market segment. Due to corporate restructuring spring of 2008, the XPS brand has been scaled down. Many of the founders of Alienware have been moved from executive roles to product-development roles. Product development of gaming PC's have been consolidated with Dell's gaming division Alienware becoming Dell's premier gaming brand. It remains to be seen if this move will dilute the Alienware's brand's reputation of irreverence.[6]
[edit] Operations
Alienware established its EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) headquarters in Athlone, Ireland in October 2002. As of FY 2005, Alienware brought in upwards of $170 million USD in annual sales[7], while undertaking an international expansion initiative launched in 2003 to maintain a presence in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and Costa Rica. Alienware has a self-owned and operated call center in Costa Rica to handle all sales and support calls for a number of years.[8] The Alienware call center in Costa Rica has won numerous awards and has been the subject of study by industry insiders. Additionally, Alienware allows customers to send in old computer hardware in exchange for credit toward new hardware as part of their AlienExchange program.[9]
[edit] Competitors
Alienware has traditionally competed with companies such as Falcon Northwest, Velocity Micro, and VoodooPC (which is now part of Dell's largest competitor, Hewlett-Packard). Before being acquired by Dell, Alienware also competed against Dell XPS gaming systems.
[edit] Overall
Alienware is one of the best computer companies on the market. Their customer support is amazing with their 24 hour support. If u are even considering getting an alienware you should purchase one because of their overall reliability.
[edit] References
- ^ Has Alienware been acquired by Dell?
- ^ Pickstock, Simon (January 9, 2008). Alienware demos giant 'curved' widescreen. Tech.co.uk. Future plc. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
- ^ Pain, John. "Alienware racks up gamers, and millions", The Associated Press, USA Today, March 13, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Dell Press Release
- ^ http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/24/technology/fastforward_fortune/index.htm Michael Dell on Alienware, growth, and AMD
- ^ Dell Tries to Revive Its Game PCs
- ^ "Small gains seen from Dell's Alienware acquisition", MarketWatch.com, 2006-03-23. Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ^ About Alienware
- ^ AlienExchange
