Dell takes edge off servers
Dell, a rising star in the server business, is cutting prices on a number of Pentium Pro-based servers in its PowerEdge line by up to 16 percent.
The price cuts are intended to preserve the tremendous momentum Dell has gained in the server market over the last year. Dell said its server business grew more than 300 percent from 1995 to 1996. A recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report said Dell is now the fourth largest PC server vendor in the United States behind Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM.
| PowerEdge price cuts | |||
| Model | Configuration | Old price | New price |
| 4100 | 200MHz/64MB | $6,895 | $6,549 |
| 180MHz/64MB | $5,399 | $5,049 | |
| 200MHz/256MB * | $16,839 | $14,008 | |
| 6100 | 200MHz/256MB | $14,094 | $12,494 |
| 200MHz/256MB | $16,990 | $15,094 | |
| 200MHz/512MB ** | $25,239 | $22,239 | |
| * Includes 9GB RAID system. ** Includes 9GB RAID system and dual processor. | |||
With the price cuts, Dell claims that its PowerEdge servers are priced 30 to 35 percent lower than comparable systems offered by its major competitors. The company says the price cuts are a result of component cost savings, which are being passed along quickly because it maintains a low parts inventory.
Dell says the price cuts affect the dual-processor-capable PowerEdge 4100 and quad-processor-capable PowerEdge 6100. For example, the PowerEdge 4100 with 200-MHz Pentium Pro processor, 256MB of memory, and a 9GB RAID (redundant array of independent disks) storage system was priced at $16,839 and had its price cut to $14,008, a reduction of 16.8 percent. A PowerEdge 4100 with 180-MHz Pentium Pro processor, 64MB of memory, and a 4GB hard drive was priced $5,399 but had its price trimmed to $5,049, a reduction of 6.4 percent.
In the PowerEdge 6100 series, a dual 200-MHz Pentium Pro system, 512MB of memory, 9GB RAID storage system, and redundant power supply was $25,239 and is now priced at $22,239, an 11.8 percent reduction.
All price cuts are effective immediately.