Dell plans to better its standing in its second biggest market outside of the U.S., China, by investing $125 billion over the course of five years.
The computer technology company is integrating itself deeply into the Chinese market through an R&D collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government-controlled institution. The partnership is aimed at the development of an "Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computing Joint-Lab."
The collaboration will place several brilliant minds under Dell's employment. This is in addition to the almost 2,000 engineers that are part of Dell's research and development arm in China. The company has also made its contributions, a total of $15.7 million, to bettering the local education and information services for underserved communities.
"We will take deeper root in the Chinese market, focusing on local innovation, research and development and procurement, to meet the demands of customers," said the Dell Greater China President, Dr. Chenhong Huang, in a press release.
This move, however, does not come as a surprise. Other corporations based in the U.S. have done the same thing, collaborating with the government and local business entities to sway the market in their favor. For instance, Intel just announced collaborations with local chip businesses in designing mobile processors. Hewlett-Packard (HP) has also taken the same route by announcing that the majority of its server solutions to a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings. The 76-year-old company hopes to increase the sales of its enterprise products through the acquisition.
Furthermore, Dell's move is in line with the company's "In China, For China" 4.0 strategy, which was announced by Dell CEO Michael Dell when he visited the country on Sept. 10. The CEO elaborated and disclosed his company's plan to invest $125 billion in the country within the coming five years.
The announced investment is forecasted to bring more than a $175 billion contribution to imports and exports. Dell also sees its commitment sustain a million jobs within the country.
"China and the United States are among the countries where the information industry is developing the fastest, resulting in the most vibrant enterprises," said Michael Dell.
"The Internet is the new engine for China's future economic growth and has unlimited potential," he added.
During the CEO's visit, Michael Dell and Kingsoft Corporation Chairman Jun Lei have, together, launched a "comprehensive agreement" between their companies, Dell and Kingsoft Cloud, respectively. The agreement is Dell's attempt to secure local cloud and data partners, which, according to the Texas-based company, shows its full support for China's "Internet+" national program.
Dell's rigorous marketing extends outside of China and have wisely spread into key internet niches. In a video posted by LinusTechTips, a technology-oriented YouTube Channel, Linus tested out the durability of Dell's XPS 13, Dell managed to interact with viewers and subscribers through the comment section. It's not that big of a news but its goes to show how committed Dell's marketing department is to marketing the brand towards the public.
