Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is set to report fourth quarter earnings tomorrow after the market closes, and the second largest PC maker is expected to report a 27-cent earnings per share on about $14.4 billion in sales. For the full fiscal year, Dell's expected numbers are for a $1.33 EPS and about $62 billion in revenue.

I have been following Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) since its 1988 IPO. No question, this was a mega-gamechanger company for years. The vision of Michael Dell creating this company from his University of Texas dorm room is inspiring. The dorm room became the new substitute for company creation as the Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) garage served beforehand. Dell was a great American success story---but the key here is WAS.

Dell remains a sell. I wrote back in early 2007 that this company is doomed because of the total commoditization of its product line. Desk tops, laptops and servers were judged more by pricing than by functionality. Hewlett-Packard took market share away from Dell these past five years, and even the return of founder Michael Dell to the CEO role was not going to save this company.

When Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) releases quarterly results Thursday how will it do? Dell has managed to quickly enter the consumer retailer market, which has helped it stave off the more valiant Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) from running away with just about ever retailer PC sale these days. But investors are bound to say, "that was yesterday -- what have you done for me today?"

Analysts are expecting the company to report earnings of 33 cents per share on revenue of $15.66 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. Although Dell announced a $1 billion share buyback plan just a few months ago, it needs to all it can to not let its stock price implode. The growth may be over (permanently), and the brand may not be the premier name it once was. Add that to the fact that the competition (most notably H-P) enjoys every cost savings Dell once did, and the picture become way less rosy.

Does Dell have any angles left? From a fundamental PC selling standpoint, it's hard to make that argument. In terms of Micheal Dell's famous comment that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) should be sold off in pieces and money returned to shareholders. My, my how the tables have turned. Still, Dell is not going anywhere fast and its stock price could be languishing in the dust for quite some time.

Dell Inc.'s (NASDAQ: DELL) rather spectacular fall from grace in its most recent fiscal year is now a matter of record. I am fascinated by how such a PC powerhouse like Dell could stumble so badly. I'll cross off the battery recall fiasco since that was way more Sony's fault than Dell's (even though Dell took the heat). That consumer recall gets a lot of press, but it has nothing to do with Dell other than a black eye (and a loss of trust on Dell's QC for consumer products). But when Dell did not even have anything beyond a press release for its latest quarterly results, its reputation became further sullied.

Let's get into accounting irregularities that have required an SEC investigation, allegations of illegal $1 billion per quarter kickbacks to Intel beyond "marketing rebates," the loss of interesting consumer design, retail losses to Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), and Dell's customer support quality levels which are only slowing improving. Which to take first? Well, since most of these have been talked about ad infinitum already, I'll let the critics speak for themselves. In a nutshell: Dell has had massive problems recently and all the changes in upper management in the last 45 days or so are meant to help fix that. Company founder Michael Dell is back at the daily helm along with a bunch of new blood. It will take time though -- there is no overnight turnaround here.

But, how is Dell going to sell more products and grow margins? It saw a 17% decline in desktop PC shipments for its last quarter and only a 2% increase in notebook shipments -- very poor performance. Meanwhile, HP is apparently selling everything it can on retail shelves -- somewhere Dell is nowhere to be found, of course. What are Dell's most profitable PCs? Are they in the consumer or business segment? If they're in the consumer segment, Dell needs to be more than a phone call or website away -- retail will be almost required, I would think. If you are a Dell investor, do you agree?