Everyone who's interested in the Dell to Wal-Mart retail scenario wants to get a better idea of just exactly what Dell intends to do over there. We all know that Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is the "Low Price Leader", so how does this play out for Dell (NASDAQ: DELL)? Being that my Dell corporate headquarters spy drones are down for repairs and my Wal-Mart corporate spy cams have been taken off line, I can only speculate on the intended direction which Dell's move is going to take. Over at Engadget the response to this move has been tepid, or leaning towards not well received.

First, let me say that at its root this Dell move is an excellent idea. By that I mean Dell has needed a direct outlet to the consumer for quite some time. Some of the tech sector analysts where aghast when they heard of this move because they had quickly assumed that Dell was changing over their entire marketing strategy to volume by low price but I assure you that's not what's happening here. Dell will still be building the lion's share of its desktop computers to customer order and shipping them direct. Wal-Mart, for the time being at least, shall only be handling a couple exclusive Dimension desktop models and I expect a select few notebook and laptop models. I predict also that as Dell earns Wal-Mart shelf space, there will be other Dell branded consumer electronics moving in there, but probably never their full desktop line.

Wal-Mart is historically demanding in their requirements for wholesale purchasing. They set the prices, the volume and the time tables. It's very much a take it or leave it world when selling to Wal-Mart. To me, it's kind of a sign of desperation that Dell has opted to go this route. I honestly thought that a Radio Shack (NYSE: RSH) scenario would play out to a much greater advantage for Dell than this Wal-Mart strategy. Is this a sign that as consumers we're expected to cheapen our expectations when thinking of Dell? I assure you that is what will happen. I'm expecting to spend about $2000 on a new PC next year. Perhaps it will be a Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) after all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work on these spy drones.