Dell Says Recall Won't Impact Its Brand in Japan

08.29.06
By Mayumi Negishi, Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters)—Dell Inc.'s recall of computers fitted with Sony Corp. batteries will not impact its brand in Japan, where two Dell computers are reported to have caught fire, the head of its local unit said on Tuesday.

"We're very bullish on how we've handled the recalls," Dell Japan President Jim Merritt told reporters. "I'm encouraged by the feedback from customers."

He declined to say how many recalls have taken place in Japan , saying only that "we've been very, very busy answering a lot of calls."

Earlier this month, the world's largest PC maker launched a recall of 4.1 million batteries for notebook computers, its biggest-ever recall, over concerns that the lithium-ion batteries made by Sony could overheat and catch fire.

It has not given a country-by-country breakdown of the recall figures.

Pictures of a Dell laptop bursting flames at a conference in Osaka appeared on a technology industry Internet site in June.

Japan 's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said this month it had received a report of a separate incident of a Dell computer battery catching fire last October.

In the April-June quarter, aggressive pricing and advertising helped Dell elbow out Fujitsu Ltd. to become the second-largest PC supplier in Japan after NEC Corp. with 16.1 percent market share, according to research firm IDC.

Despite the negative publicity, Texas-based Dell will be able to beat out NEC for the number one slot in Japan in one to two years if it continues to gain market share at its current pace, Merritt said.

"As dynamics in Japan continue to change, it is my belief that they will change in favor of Dell" and its direct-sales business model, he said.

Revenues in Japan from software and peripherals rose 30 percent in April-June from the same period last year, helped by strong sales of laser printers, which Dell began selling in Japan last year in competition with Japanese rivals Canon Inc. and Ricoh Co. Ltd.

Dell entered Japan 's office-use color printer market last month with prices at about half that of competitors' models.

After Dell's recall, Apple Computer Inc. announced it would recall 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook batteries, also made by Sony.

(Additional reporting by Sachi Izumi)

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Hackers Hit AT&T System, Get Credit Card Info

08.30.06
By Chris Preimesberger

AT&T revealed late Aug. 29 that an undisclosed number of unauthorized persons had illegally hacked into one of its computer systems and accessed the personal data—including credit card information—of about 19,000 customers who had purchased DSL equipment through the company's online store.

The unauthorized electronic access took place over the weekend of Aug. 26-27 and was discovered within hours, a company spokesperson said. The store was shut down immediately and remains offline.

AT&T, based in San Antonio, also notified the major credit card companies whose customer accounts were involved.

Cyber-thieves steal $700,000 via ATM hacking. Click here to read more.

The company is also working with law enforcement to investigate the incident and pursue the perpetrators, the spokesperson said.

About 19,000 customers are being notified by e-mail, phone calls and letters, the spokesperson said.

For advice on how to secure your network and applications, as well as the latest security news, visit Ziff Davis Internet's Security IT Hub.

"We recognize that there is an active market for illegally obtained personal information. We are committed to both protecting our customers' privacy and to weeding out and punishing the violators," said Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, chief privacy officer for AT&T.

"We deeply regret this incident and we intend to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted. We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account."

Customers who have been affected have been provided with a toll-free number to call for more information, the spokesperson said.

Dell exploding laptops alert

Amar Singh, Evening Standard
15 August 2006

MORE than four million laptops are at the centre of a global alert over batteries that can overheat and catch fire.

LAPTOP SHOCK: Dell has recalled millions of batteries after a laptop caught fire at a conference in Japan

Dell issued the biggest product recall in computer history after video footage showed a laptop bursting into flames during a conference in Osaka, Japan.

Similar incidents have been reported across the world. Dell said it had been told of six instances of batteries overheating, causing damage to furniture and belongings but no personal injuries.

Consumers are being urged to stop using the batteries immediately and to get in touch to obtain replacements. The company said today it was recalling 4.1m batteries for use in Latitude, Inspiron and Precision laptops. The batteries are also used by other companies including Apple, which said it was looking into the risk posed.

Dell blames the problem on the lithium-ion batteries made by Sony Energy Devices. This type of battery has been in use since the mid-Nineties and is often found in devices such as mobile phones and digital music players.

It is estimated the recall could cost Dell more than £ 157m without taking into account damage to the company's reputation.

Spokesman Ira Williams said: 'In rare cases, a short-circuit could cause the battery to overheat, causing a risk of smoke and fire. It happens in rare cases, but we opted to take this broad action immediately.'

Fears surrounding laptops emerged this month as pictures of some of the charred machines circulated on the internet. One man from Singapore told an Australian newspaper how his laptop caught fire as he was working late in his office.

'White smoke began to pour out of the machine, completely filling up the room, and there were flames coming up the sides of the laptop.'

The man said he grabbed the machine by its screen and carried it to a sink of water to douse the flames. But when he pulled it back out it began to smoulder again.

The recall involves 18% of Dell's 22m notebook computers sold between April 2004 and last month. This is the third recall of Dell notebook batteries in the past five years.

Last December it recalled 22,000 notebook computer batteries over similar fears. The company also recalled 284,000 batteries in 2001.

It comes as a major blow to Dell which has recently lost ground to its leading rival Hewlett-Packard.

Dell Announces SEC Investigation and Major Profit Drop

08.17.06

By Natali T. Del Conte
It really hasn't been Dell's week. First the company announced on Monday the biggest laptop battery recall in history and on Thursday announced that profits fell to half its value from this time last year. And to add insult to injury, Dell has admitted to being under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a conference call with investors and media on Thursday, Dell executives admitted to their disappointment.

"We are not pleased with our performance," said Jim Schneider, chief financial officer for Dell. "We priced aggressively to grow the business with a resulting negative impact as a result."

Dell's net income last August was $1.02 billion. Thursday's announcement reported income of $502 million. In Q2, Dell generated $14.1 billion and had an operating income of $605 million. Shares of Dell dropped more than 5 percent on Thursday.

Schneider said the company learned in August of 2005 that they were under an informal investigation by the SEC for issues relating to past fiscal periods. As a result of the investigation, Dell found issues that raised more red flags and launched its own internal investigation of fiscal periods prior to 2006. Schneider said he does not believe that the investigation will impact financial standings in upcoming quarters.

Despite the bad news, Dell executives remain optimistic.

We Should Praise Dell Not Bury It
"We are clearly disappointed with our financial results," Kevin Rollins, chief executive officer for Dell. "For the next quarter, we'll continue to balance our revenue growth and profit without giving up share. In consumer, we're simplifying our pricing and promotion structure. We can do better, we know that."

Rollins said that the industry as a whole has suffered a slow-down and Dell's aggressive pricing backfired.

"This is happening at a time when the industry is growing modestly," Rollins said. "Historically, Dell has faired far better than our competitors during such periods. We just didn't have the elasticity because the markets were weak."

Dell also expressed hope about customer service investments and price promotion programs. In July, the company announced that it would significantly reduce all promotional and rebate programs within the next 12 to 18 months.

"We've been improving service and support and we're seeing clear signs of a successful turn around," Rollins said. "Call transfers have been reduced by 33 percent and satisfaction rates are up 20 percent for this year."

Additionally, Dell announced on Thursday that it would strengthen its relationship with AMD by offering AMD processors in more PCs and servers. "The addition of AMD will give us additional product breadth and visibility as we move into the third quarter," Rollins said.

"Our visibility on component and cost hasn't been very good," Rollins concluded. "We've got to do a better job of understanding cost in order to predict price and elasticity."

"While we gained share in the key markets worldwide and achieved record market share, we're not satisfied with our performance and we will do better," said chairman Michael Dell in his concluding remarks. "We're focused on improving our cost position and product leadership. We will exit this year with the most technically advanced product line in our history."

FCC pushes for broadband over power lines

Posted: Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:26:00 GMT
Author: sdy284


c|net - "WASHINGTON--Federal regulators renewed on Thursday their push for a wider rollout of what has been hailed as a viable "third pipe" for the many areas where broadband choices have been limited to DSL or cable modems. If broadband over power lines, or BPL, takes off, then more Americans, particularly in rural and underserved areas, will be able to plug into high-speed Internet access, and markets dominated by cable and DSL (digital subscriber line) should be forced to lower consumers bills, members of the Federal Communications Commission said at their monthly meeting here."