Dell in Romania? Count 12-24 more months

Dell Computer, the world’s number one PC maker will indeed come to Romania, albeit not to open a factory here, as rumour had it until not so long ago, but to sell computers, analysts on the market say.

The company might open its local representative office by the end of next year or in the first quarter of 2005 at the latest.

What is it going to do in meantime? It will consolidate its position on the Romanian market and its partner network, the same sources say.

For the time being, Dell has two partners in Romania, Romsys and System Plus. Dell is supposed to pick a local dealer to handle not only the sale of Dell equipment, but also the promotion of the brand, by this fall.

A delegation of the company re-certified the Dell service centre in Romania held by System Plus last week. At the same time, the Dell officials announced a new service policy for the Romanian market. Subsequently, any interventions or repairs of any malfunctioning Dell equipment will be taken care of locally and not abroad.

Sales of Dell equipment in Romania amounted to $3-$4 million last year, analysts say. By the time Dell opens its Romanian office, sales could reach as high as $15 million.

The direct involvement of the company on the Romanian market should result in a market share erosion for the major players like Fujitsu Siemens Computers, but also in a powerful competition at the product level (especially where Hewlett-Packard is concerned), the same sources explain.

“I would expect Dell to primarily eat into the market share of the local assemblers on the high-end segment and of the international brands on the low & middle-end segments,” said Vasile Aniculaesei, marketing manager of Best Computers, IT equipment retailer.

The opening of a Dell representative office in Romania will be very good for both its direct partners and end users, Madalin Lazarescu, IDC Romania analyst says. Furthermore, Dell’s interest “proves the market in Romania has a lot of potential when it comes to hardware consumption,” he added.

What does Hewlett-Packard, Dell’s archrival worldwide, have to say about that? “Dell’s coming to Romania will make no impact on the market whatsoever, at least not in the first two years. Their efficiency resides in their business model (direct and online sales i.e.), which will be impossible to apply in Romania for at least as long as the electronic commerce and the confidence in the electronic payment systems stay low,” Razvan Mosoiu, PSG country manager with HP Romania said, adding Dell would pose no threat to HP’s position on the Romanian market.

The Romanian PC market will amount to $251 million this year, according to the latest data provided by research companies.
iuliana.susanu@zf.ro