Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) has hired former Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) executive Ahmed Mahmoud as its new chief information officer. Mahmoud was recently a VP of Information Technology at Dell and had spent 13 years with the computer maker. This is a promotion for Mahmoud and a steep loss for Dell -- although Information Technology executives don't seem to share the media limelight regarding executive moves like CEOs and COOs do.

It's a short move for Mahmoud, moving from Dell's Round Rock, Texas headquarters to AMD's Austin, Texas campus. Although this is an internal move geared to ensure AMD's global IT operations are on the scale they need to be, the move comes at a precarious time in AMD's lifecycle. The company is in a negative spin as of late as a resurgent Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has charged back with newer, faster and less power-hungry PC processor designs than its scrappy counterpart.

AMD will, of course, survive, but the company will have to stage a monumental effort to come back at Intel with just-as-fancy PC processors at the cutting edge of its business while continuing to fight the price war that seems to have always existed between the behemoth Intel and the smaller AMD. Mahmoud's task will be to ensure that all information in the company will flow as easily as possible so that competitive advantage takes firm root inside AMD. In fact, one of the largest (if not the largest) forms of competitive advantage resides in the breadth of information borne out of a company's systems that executives can use to make the correct decisions. In that way, Mahmoud's upcoming task is formidable -- but AMD needs it now more than ever.

As Doug McIntyre mentioned last week, Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) didn't hit its most recent quarterly numbers amid continuing higher costs during the quarter. The company "has a lot more work to do" -- so much that it seems the one golden boy of cost control is out of sorts with itself. Founder and CEO Michael Dell did say that "we won't grow at all costs" during the conference call. This was directed at the analysts' mosh-pit that expects growth over every other metric. Because, you know, profits are secondary.

Although its retail effort seems to be going well, Dell fights for shelf space and sales with all of its largest competitors at almost every retailer. Entering into retail was not some kind of exclusivity magic shell-game for the computer maker. It has to work long-term, and it hasn't even been a year since Dell entered retail. The company indeed made moves towards "transforming itself" during the quarter (read: cutting costs). But can it continue to expand its business in the U.S. and overseas without washing itself in red ink at the same time? That's the delicate challenge. Unfortunately, top competitor Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is the strongest it's been in over a decade behind CEO Mark Hurd.

Dell went on to say that "improvements in profitability will take some time," and it will continue to lower headcount to reduce overall costs in addition to designing market-leading notebook PCs for consumers. Both strategies are paying off: one on the costs side and one on the revenue side. Then again, another huge challenge is increasing sales outside the U.S., where Hewlett-Packard currently enjoys roughly two-thirds of its sales. As such, a downturn in any particular market insulates HP from sagging results with the breadth of global sales it has. If Dell can also achieve that level of padding, any consumer downturn that could happen this summer won't hurt nearly as much.

Although it seems like a long shot that Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) could end up buying the wireless handset division of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), the company may indeed end up becoming a player in the wireless industry one way or another. At the least, Dell may want to hook up with a larger partner with some kind of wireless computing clout.

If the rumored Motorola deal doesn't work out, would Dell work with Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) on a new wireless smartphone based on Google's Android software platform? There are rumors that a partnership could be announced next week at the Mobile World Congress in Spain. The question remains: why on Earth would Dell want to leap into the brutally competitive wireless arena, even with Google as an ally?

Perhaps Google needs a high-profile hardware partner to build a flagship handset to showcase its Android software system for mobile phones. "Senior Industry Sources" have claimed that a partnership between the two is on tap for next week, although an actual phone may not be the product to be announced. Dell could announce a tablet PC running the Android platform instead of an actual wireless handset, for example.

Last week, news that Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) might want to shed its well-known wireless handset division amid a breakup of the company, sent some odd waves through the marketplace. Motorola's name brand recognition, after all, revolves around its cellphones, not its set-top boxes in the homes of digital cable customers.

The company's cellphone division has a long and storied history, but it has consistently lost money and market share in the last 18 months. Who would want to buy the division and turn it around? Anyone? Or, would it just be better for it to operate as an independent company? It's hard to imagine any corporation wanting to acquire the troubled Motorola handset division, although the brand name itself is worth billions.

Instead of laying down existing cellphone manufacturer candidates for a possible purchase of Motorola's cellphone division, Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Brian Modoff chalked up a very strange buyer -- Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL). In the midst of a company-wide reorganization and a new global retail business, could the world's second largest PC maker have some strategy to compete in the brutal wireless handset market?

Former Motorola marketing pitchman Ron Garriques left the cellphone giant for Dell in 2007, and former Dell CFO Tom Meredith is now the CFO at Motorola. Connections or coincidences? Regardless, it would be a boneheaded move for Dell to try and acquire Motorola's handset business unless it has wireless plans in the works that can compete right out of the gate with billion-dollar cellphone makers like Samsung and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK).

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) announced yesterday that the company will finally bring last year's layoff announcement to its customer service operations in a few contact centers. Over 900 employees in its Canadian Ottawa operations will be let go, along with approximately 300 in Dell's Oklahoma City customer contact center as well. In the case of the Oklahoma call center, consumer sales and consumer technical support are being hit hard, but the center will also take on more business technical support responsibilities.

Today is the last day of Dell's fiscal year, and it's a time when the company wants to take charges on its books instead of carrying them over to the new fiscal year, so the timing of these layoffs makes sense financially. However, the company was trumpeting growing both contact centers just over a year ago -- and now headcount reductions are happening. My, how a year can change things drastically, yes?

The company still has a long way to go in order to catch market leader Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which passed it last year as the world's largest computer maker. Dell responded by bringing in a bunch of new blood and by entering the retail market as quickly as possible. Perhaps when it bolsters sales back up, it may need to support those new customers with customer service employee re-hirings. Until then, it's just another zany day in the tech worker layoff arena.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) will be closing all 140 "Dell Direct" retail kiosks in malls and shipping centers across the U.S. within a matter of days to more acutely focus sales in high-volume retailers like Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT). This is a good move, as I've always wondered if the point of Dell's mall kiosks was just a branding and mind share technique more than a sales channel.

Dell's kiosks employees will be given a severance package and outplacement assistance as the world's second-largest PC maker closes down these shops by perhaps this weekend. The kiosks have been around since 2002 as a way for Dell customers to get a feel for its products before calling or ordering on the Dell website.

In a sense, these Dell Direct kiosks were what the computer maker needed in a larger ways years ago -- the ability for retail consumers to "look and feel" its products before buying sight unseen from a website. Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) leapfrogged past Dell in 2007 as the world's largest computer maker squarely on the back of strong consumer retail sales, and especially in the laptop PC segment where consumers prefer to see the product in person before buying. Good move, Dell -- but this retail shift should have come at the end of 2006 instead. Better late than never, eh?

While Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) continues to make progress against the #1 PC seller in the world, Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ), it's also having to slice and dice its workforce to fit highly modified corporate needs. The current nomenclature for layoffs is "right-sizing" the workforce, and Dell's operations outside the U.S. are just as prone as operations inside the U.S.

Dell's customer contact center in Ottawa is apparently feeling some of the company's belt-tightening, as reports indicate that the world's second-largest PC maker is laying off some of its Canadian staff and canceling plans to hire more than 1,200 additional workers needed to support Dell's PC and server products. All this comes a little more than a year after the company was tooting its own horn over its Ottawa-area employee expansion.

Well, that's business. The tides of success change every month and yesterday's good news can turn into tomorrow's bad news very easily. Dell's Ottawa operations may leave a 150,000 square foot building empty while throwing uncertainty into its entire Canadian support operation. At least, that's what Dell's Canadian employees must be thinking.

A Dell spokesperson addressing the Ottawa changes said that "it all goes back to eliminating redundancies and aligning ourselves to give the best customer service." That's the day-to-day operating strategy, right? Elimination of redundancies is an never-ending process.

Product (RED) is a global effort that is providing significant monetary resources to assist in the reduction of AIDS in Africa in addition to providing treatment to hard-hit countries in that region. The project has attracted sponsorships from many large tech companies, and one of the larger PC companies has now entered the fray.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) will now be donating $50 to $80 when specific laptop or desktop PCs are sold with Microsoft Windows Vista as the operating system. In fact, the Dell announcement of Product (RED) support was made in concert with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). My question is this: with Dell's current position in the PC industry, can it really afford to do this?

First of all, Dell's Product (RED) systems are all from its top-of-the-line XPS category, which gives the PC maker its highest margins. There's the catch -- a customer will need to spend enough on a top-flight PC to be able and goad the PC maker to donate a gas tank amount of money to Project (RED). Not that this was unexpected -- Dell can't afford to take even a $15 hit on its lower-end, razor-margin systems. Still, the PC maker will gain some good marketing mileage from this promotion.

DISCLOSURE: The author holds a long position in MSFT.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has been on a tear in the last six months when it comes to partnering with global retailers for its consumer PC products, and it has just announced yet another partnership. This time, European retail giant Tesco will make Dell's laptop and desktop PC products available in its stores this month. Currently, Tesco has retail operations in Asia and Europe.

Is Dell desperate? It's joined with so many larger retailers since this past autumn that it's hard not to think that the world's second-largest PC maker is trying desperately to make up for lost time by entering any and all retailers it can. In the U.S., that list includes Wal-Mart (NSYE: WMT), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS). Those are among the three largest companies in their respective industries (discount retail, consumer electronics, and office/home business supplies).

Dell's Inspiron and XPS products will be the consumer product lines available in Tesco stores, mainly in the UK. However, Tesco outlets in Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia will also carry Dell's two consumer PC lines. With Dell having retail partners in Europe, Asia (China's Gome) and the U.S., the company's retail sales efforts will be heavily scrutinized in 2008 as it competes on the shelf against retail heavyweights like Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Taiwan's Acer, which also includes the Gateway brand.

More patent infringement news today, as computer maker Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is being sued by a company that creates touch-screen technology. Also named in the lawsuit is Motion Computing, who makes tablet PCs. You know, the kind that look like laptops with touch screens minus the keyboard in most cases.

It's hard to see how touch screen computing can be something under a patent infringement lawsuit, but Typhoon Touch Technologies filed the suit as co-plaintiff with its licensee, Nova Mobility Systems. Motion Computing is headquartered in Austin Texas, just outside Dell's headquarters of Round Rock, Texas.

Motion Computing VP Michael Stinson said that "we had no idea this was coming" when asked to comment about the lawsuit, adding that "we don't believe our products infringe on any valid claims in the alleged patents." Dell has not yet responded to the lawsuit, which was filed December 5th of last week.

But, I have to love the ambiguous title of the patent both Dell and Motion Computing are infringing upon: "Portable Computer with Touch Screen and Computer System Employing Same." That could apply to a few hundred products from the description alone, although the patents in question by Typhoon were filed in 1995 and 1997.

In a move that was not totally unexpected, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) announced today that it would soon be selling its desktop and laptop PCs at the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). Dell has taken its computer products into Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) and Staples (NYSE: SPLS) in recent months, and an introduction into Best Buy was inevitable.

And so the fight begins -- Dell's systems will be put right next to Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) systems on the same floor, where pricing and presentation will be neck-and-neck. It's been over fifteen years since Dell has been on the shelves of Best Buy, so history is repeating itself. Dell's desperation to return to its former sales and profit glory is seeing no bounds in 2007, with the computer giant re-entering retail in a large way and making acquisitions left and right -- reversing over a decade of not doing either.

Dell will be forced to compete directly with Hewlett-Packard and a resurgent Acer on shelves now. With its cost competitiveness pretty much duplicated by the competition, the words commodity business will ring ever truer on the tongues of PC industry watchers with Dell's latest retail move. Can Dell really take on such a massive move to retail so quickly without disrupting the business model it built on the back of a direct-only customer relationship? Even if not, the announcement alone should gain from applause from Wall Street.

When Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) reported earnings just recently, the world's second largest computer maker showed above-average revenue but profits lagged expectations due to higher costs in the quarter. Meanwhile competitor Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported a stellar quarter on everything from revenue to profit to future guidance. It seems as though Dell and HP have completely traded places from where they stood in 2004, no?

Dell brings up the issue of bigger-than-expected costs being a problem in the third quarter as it tries to explain why its profits sunk. Inquiring investors want to know why component prices were a problem for Dell in the back half of 2007 when HP saw lower component costs in the same period?

Your guess is as good as mine, but the questions won't stop there. For a company that built a reputation around being lean all the way around, what happened to Dell's cost structure recently? That has not been answered directly -- yet.

When Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) reported Q3 numbers last week, the market was underwhelmed by the computer maker's results. Dell, in the midst of staging a comeback under founder and CEO Michael Dell, missed earnings by a penny. Although this was the first solid quarter of honest-to-goodness results after a string of quarterly "preliminary" results due to an accounting scandal, the market didn't let up. Missing estimates by even a penny can be disastrous in the short term.

Well, larger competitor Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) continues to add to that misery, as research firm iSuppli recently stated that the Palo Alto, Calif., company increased its market share over rival Dell in the third quarter of the calendar year. Adding insult to injury, Taiwanese computer maker Acer stole the number two spot in laptop sales away from Dell in the Q3 period as well, after completing its acquisition of the Gateway brand in the same quarter.

According to iSuppli, Hewlett-Packard took home 19.2% of all computer shipments in the third quarter, widening its lead against Dell's 14.6% share. In 2006's Q3 period, the difference was 16.5% for HP compared to 16.3% for Dell. My, what one year can do. Dell, ever one to control internal costs, let that one area get out of hand in its Q3 period and that dented its profit even as revenues grew. With laptop PCs continuing to grow way faster in unit shipments than desktop PCs, and with a resurgent Acer not giving an inch, it's going to be one large, uphill battle for Dell from here on.

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) rolled out its Q3 numbers after the bell this afternoon, and they were in-line with expectations. The analyst crowd had pegged Dell with a $0.35 EPS for the Q3 period, and the company saw an actual of $0.34 for the quarter, missing consensus estimates by a penny. Will the market punish it after hours? So far, yes -- Dell shares are down to $26.29 in after-hours trading after completing the trading day at $28.14.

Dell's Q3 revenues were $15.6 billion, up 9% from the year-ago quarter, with operating income at $829 million (up 13% year over year). In addition, the world's second-largest computer maker saw $1 billion in cash from its operations, along with growing its business in the Americas 7%. By contrast, Dell's international operations grew much larger than that: EMEA business grew 14% while the Asia Pacific region saw 18% growth gains.

Dell has spent $103 million YTD on acquisitions, which include Silverback, Zing, ASAP, EqualLogic and Everdream. Dell, in other words, is trying to make up for lost ground using a string of smaller acquisitions. This was not the company's strategy about 24 months ago, but times have changed. If you'd like to see all the details currently being presented in the Q3 conference call, visit this link (PDF download).

While Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) continues to make up lost ground to competitor Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) in terms of overall sales, one area that it's attacking in seemingly full force is the retail sector. Over the summer, Dell joined up with retailers Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) as an entry point to get its nameplate in front of U.S. retail consumers who might not know that Dell existed outside of a website. That's because until then Dell really didn't exist outside of its direct-sales phone and web order channels when it came to the consumer market.

Dell is now eying the European retail market, and has announced yesterday a partnership with European retail giant Carrefour. Carrefour will act as the sole distributor (at this time) for Dell's consumer PC sales efforts in Europe. To start off, Dell will begin selling PCs in four European countries next year, although those countries are unknown at this time.

Dell has seen middling success in the European consumer market and this new partnership should help its efforts greatly as it cracks into yet another retail market. Dell has a lot of catching up to do in order to bolster its retail presence and image among consumers, as one of Hewlett-Packard's main reasons for such a splendid quarter last week was due to the strength of its retail laptop systems.