Dell: Subprime- vs. Sub[...]-casualty

Recently we've become familiar with the growing waves of pain on Wall Street. However, few should have expected more pain on at Dell after its founder returned to the company about a year ago. From NYTimes Bits we learn:
Dell on Monday announced that it plans to close a desktop computer manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. The company said the closure is part of a massive reorganization effort to revive Dell while also cutting $3 billion in costs.
Dell's misfortune (being a one-trick shop) has been amplified by Microsoft's Vista non-event. Indeed, its exclusive reliance on an optimized supply chain and Wintel has consistently made for cheap products and increasing vulnerability to Vista-type of events. When Microsoft failed to give corporations a timely reason for an upgrade, Dell was found poorly prepared to capitalize on the consumer market.

As a side note, it's interesting to see how Michael Dell's second coming wasn't that much of a comeback since Dell had always been a Dell-Rollins show. On the other hand, Mr. Dell himself believed it was a comeback since he spent quite a chunk of his own money to buy shares in the company.

-more on the subject-