Dell’s exploding computer hurts image
A Dell notebook computer that burst into flames last month in Osaka, Japan, has damaged more than just the conference table where it sat smoldering. The incident, publicized in photos on the Internet, has also hurt Dell’s recent attempts to improve its image. Having personally used Dell laptops and others I’m pretty sure that this was an isolated event.
Photos of the flaming and smoking notebook were posted on a technology news Web site called the Inquirer on June 21. The story was passed around to other Web sites and blogs like Consumerist.com. It was also the subject of a brief article carried later that day on the Dow Jones Newswires. Two days later, Cindy Shaw, a securities analyst with Moors & Cabot, notified her clients about the publicity. Last Thursday, citing reports of a second smoking laptop, this one in Pennsylvania, she advised them that “should this story also hit the mainstream press, we believe there is headline risk and potentially negative demand ramifications for Dell.”
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