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Packard Bell mimics Dell
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June 18, 1997: 12:22 p.m. ET
Computer maker says it will begin selling directly to business customers
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Packard Bell NEC Inc. announced a two-pronged computer sales approach that it hopes will capture some of the magic enjoyed by Dell Computer Corp. and Gateway 2000.
Under the plan, to be called NEC Now, Packard Bell will begin selling directly to its small and medium-sized business customers in much the same way as Dell and Gateway have done.
However, Packard Bell will also allow business customers to utilize the service and support of its current channel of resellers. Customers theoretically would gain the advantages of direct-sale pricing while still holding on to the support they typically receive when buying from middlemen.
Business customers represent about 30 percent of Packard Bell's total revenue.
Appearing on CNNfn's "Digital Jam," NEC Packard Bell CEO Beni Alagem said the move eventually could lead to an even greater emphasis on direct sales.
"As our technology evolves, our distribution channel must evolve also. We will adapt to the channel that's the most efficient to our end user," Alagem said.
The company also announced a new infrastructure in which it will stockpile components at its factories in its Sacramento, Calif., headquarters and also at its Fife, Wash., facilities.
With this strategy, Packard Bell will assemble computers as orders come in, rather than basing what it builds on forecasts of what products might be in demand.
Speed of delivery is one of the things Packard Bell, the second-largest PC seller in the U.S., hopes to accomplish.
"We feel that our technology is superior (and) what we were lacking is the ability to deliver the product fast to the marketplace and meet our customers' demands," Alagem said.
Introducing the direct sales approach will require Packard Bell to beef up its staffing. To that end, it said it would double its sales force and expand other field operations.
Individual consumers will be out of luck, however. They still will have to buy Packard Bell computers through stores. 
-- Randy Schultz
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Packard Bell
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