Dell, Inc. is a multinational company based in Round Rock, Texas which develops, manufactures, sells, and supports personal computers and other computer-related products. As of 2008, Dell employs more than 88,000 people worldwide.

Dell grew during the 1980s and 1990s to become (for a time) the largest seller of PCs and servers. As of 2008, it held the second spot in computer-sales within the industry behind the Hewlett-Packard Company. The company currently sells personal computers, servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals and televisions.

In 2006, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 25th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list, 8th on its annual Top 20 list of the most-admired companies in the United States. In 2007 Dell ranked 34th and 8th respectively on the equivalent lists for the year. A 2006 publication identified Dell as one of 38 high-performance companies in the S&P 500 which had consistently out-performed the market over the previous 15 years.

Products
A typical Dell-based home workstation: note the black flat-screen monitor and black tower
A typical Dell-based home workstation: note the black flat-screen monitor and black tower

Scope and brands

The corporation markets specific brand names to different market segments:

* Business Class: including OptiPlex, Latitude, and Precision, where the company's advertising emphasizes long life-cycles, reliability and serviceability:

* OptiPlex - office desktop computer systems
* n Series - desktop and notebook computers shipped with Linux or FreeDOS installed
* Vostro - small-business desktop and notebook systems
* Latitude - commercially-focused notebooks
* Precision - workstation systems and high-performance notebooks. (Some of them including Linux pre-installed.[44])
* PowerEdge - business servers
* PowerVault - direct-attach and some network-attached storage (NAS)
* PowerConnect - network switches
* Dell EMC - storage area networks (SANs)
* EqualLogic - enterprise class iSCSI SANs

* Home/Consumer Class: including Inspiron, and XPS brands, emphasizing value, performance and expandability:

* Inspiron - consumer desktop and notebook systems
* XPS - enthusiast and high-performance desktop and notebook systems
* Alienware (XPS Extreme) - high-performance gaming systems

* Peripherals: Dell has also diversified its product line to include peripheral products such as USB keydrives, LCD televisions, and printers.

* Dell monitors LCD TVs, plasma TVs and projectors for HDTV and monitors