NEWS: Dell Buys Alienware

**TechZ** · March 23rd, 2006, 04:41 AM

It's now official: Dell has bought Alienware, making the company an independent subsidiary of Dell. So why did Alienware make such a deal with Dell? According to what Agulia told to FiringSquad, he and Alienware President Nelson Gonzales started the company ten years ago for about $10,000 and as he put it, "The original $10,000 has taken us about as far as we can go." Agulia said that the purchase by Dell will allow Alienware to grow and improve in ways that the founders could not do. However, Alienware will remain a separate entity with Agulia and Gonzalez remaining as part of the leaders of the company, and that no internal changes are being made.

So perhaps the biggest surprise to most people will be that you're not going to see a lot of changes after this announcement. You're not going to see Alienware logos show up on Dell products and vice versa. Our website is not going to change and the majority of our business practices will stay the same. Both Alex and I remain in charge as we have before to manage Alienware. We'll stay headquartered in Miami (though our new Dell colleagues in Austin are welcome to visit any time they'd like - we get great hotel deals on South Beach in July). Don't look to see cranes starting to erect Dell signage on top of our Miami headquarters. The bottom line is that little will change from an external standpoint. The operational efficiencies that Alienware will derive from this acquisition, as well as our mutual passion with adopting best practices, will allow us to shorten product lead times, offer more flexible and affordable financing and ultimately allow Alienware to make deeper investments in technology innovations, bold and winning product designs, and unbeatable product support/service.

**Stalemate** · March 23rd, 2006, 09:54 AM

Dude, you got an Alienware.

Hmm.

Not quite as cool-sounding.

But let's give it some time. Perhpas this is what both companies needed - DEll to get more credibility with the powerusers and Alienware to face the ongoing challenges of the likes of Voodoo and Falcon.