back to article Dell confirms price rise post Brexit vote as UK pound stumbles

Dell has blamed a Brexit-induced sterling meltdown for a double-digit price hike across its portfolio in the UK. As we revealed last week, the British pound has weakened to a 31-year low against the US dollar, making price rises inevitable. Today’s rate is 12.4 per cent lower than before the EU referendum. Channel partners …

  1. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: No Problem...

      If you put on your eye-shades you don't need a display and save 20% plus. Put in your ear plugs and save a bit more. You know where to put the cork.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. RIBrsiq
          Facepalm

          @Shadmeister

          You do realise that this is not, by and large, about your -- or anyone else's -- next laptop, yes?

          I mean, sure, that's also impacted. But it's not what the discussion is about.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: No Problem...

          "I also want a laptop with two drive bays - the web sites never seem to state or have a filter, for laptops with 2 drive bays."

          If the laptop has an optical drive (rare these days) it can be turned into a hard drive bay.

          Many laptops have a 2.5" drive bay AND an M.2 slot.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

            1. foxyshadis

              Re: No Problem...

              Damn, you want an M.2, two drive bays, AND an optical drive? Geez, that seems a bit much for a portable unit. I found a 128GB M.2 + 1TB spinning rust was good, with an external Bluray reader in the bag in case it's ever necessary (only a couple of times), and today you can easily get 1TB M.2 and 2TB SSD or 4TB spinning rust, which is a pretty massive combined capacity without even needing a second 2.5 slot.

              Nowadays you're starting to see laptops with NO 2.5 drive bays, so maybe it'll become a real problem someday, but those are still mostly the tiny super-tablets and ultraportables I have no interest in.

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: No Problem...

      "If you remove the cost of pre-installed Windows 10 you can save approximately 10%"...and also lose the money that comes from paying for all the pre-installed free trial crap which invariably depends on Windows. I don't know if it's still the case but that used to be worth more to the manufacturer than the cost of Windows so the cheapest route to a Linux PC was to buy a Windows PC and blow away Windows.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. Nattrash
          Devil

          Re: No Problem...

          Nah, big companies do what big companies do best...

          Followed your link

          http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          and indeed, £ 169 is not a bad price (if you want a laptop like that)...

          Now, what would that be in euros than..?

          http://www.dell.com/de/unternehmen/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215#AnchorZone3

          Hummm, € 229 (~ £ 194)...

          So what if I like Danish keyboards anyway...

          http://www.dell.com/dk/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          kr 2188 (~ £ 249)

          Really..?

          What about Swiss Francs? Everybody loves those...

          http://www.dell.com/ch/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          CHF 330 (~ £ 258)

          Er...

          Norwegian model anyone?

          http://www.dell.com/no/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          3038 kr (~ £ 276)

          So I thought the piece was about Dell increasing their prices in the UK. If this is the way that the Dell kit of the Dell Accounting Dept. computes this, I think I'll pass on this one...

        2. Nattrash
          Facepalm

          Re: No Problem...

          Nah, big companies do what big companies do best...

          Followed your link

          http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          and indeed, £ 169 is not a bad price (if you want a laptop like that)...

          Now, what would that be in euros than..?

          http://www.dell.com/de/unternehmen/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215#AnchorZone3

          Hummm, € 229 (~ £ 194)...

          So what if I like Danish keyboards anyway...

          http://www.dell.com/dk/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          Fra 2188 (~ £ 249)

          Norwegian model anyone?

          http://www.dell.com/no/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd?oc=bn55215

          3038 kr (~ £ 276)

          So I thought the argument was that Dell was increasing their prices. If this is the way that the Dell kit of Dell accounting computes this, I think I'll pass on this one...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: No Problem...

            >So I thought the argument was that Dell was increasing their prices. If this is the way that the Dell kit of Dell accounting computes this, I think I'll pass on this one...

            You need to adjust those prices - some of them include VAT, delivery and recycling tax. It is nonetheless true that UK Dell prices have been on average 10 to 20% cheaper than most of Europe/EU for a while - economies of scale as their biggest customer.

    3. Lars Silver badge
      Linux

      Re: No Problem...

      While I will install Linux anyway I am not sure they will remove the cost of pre-installed Windows 10, or?.

    4. streaky

      Re: No Problem...

      Not a problem. If you remove the cost of pre-installed Windows 10 you can save approximately 10%, and install Linux instead.

      If you buy from elsewhere you can save even more AND get better gear. Wait people still buy dell gear?

    5. JLeezy

      Re: No Problem...

      Has no one just thought that the solution might be to say F*** Y** Dell, and buy from another vendor?..

      We already get screwed in the UK for the cost of tech.... NO MORE!

  2. smartypants

    Prediction

    Someone will come on here saying "well I didn't want to buy a crappy dell anyway... at least we have our country back (tm)"

    (Repeat ad nauseam for the next 5 years as the country slowly sinks into the North sea)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Prediction

      >Someone will come on here saying "well I didn't want to buy a crappy dell anyway... at least we have our country back (tm)"

      Most Brexiters are more likely to say 'I couldn't afford a Dell even if the price dropped by 10%'.

      1. Yugguy

        Re: Prediction

        Yes, because of course we are all poor, retarded, penniless racists.

        A bit of context on the pound from MSE:

        "Before the EU vote a pound bought €1.30ish - it's now a little under €1.18. At this rate your holiday will be far more expensive than last summer when it was €1.43, a bit more expensive than the summer before but a touch cheaper than the year before that when it was €1.15 - so this ISN'T a historical anomaly."

        Yes, it is struggling against the dollar, but it isn't the fact of Brexit itself that is causing issues, it's that we are not getting on with it.

        Here is the story of my great, great Uncle:

        Hugh Dalton was born in Croston, near Chorley on the 27th January 1890, the son of William and Mary; they had five children.

        He enlisted in the Pals on the 26th September 1914, giving his address at 7 Church Street, Croston and working for his father who was a Blacksmith in the village; he worshipped at St. Mary’s in Croston.

        Hugh Dalton came through the Somme battle in 1916 unscathed, only to contract Nephritis (a kidney infection) at Bethune in January 1917. He was admitted to 94 Field Ambulance and then the 1st Canadian General Hospital at Etaples on the 29th January 1917. He was shipped back to the U.K. for treatment, spending nearly three months at the 1st / 5th General Hospital in Leicester; he then spent a week convalescing at a hospital in Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan at the start of May.

        Hugh was eventually discharged from the Army on the 16th November 1917, giving his address as the Black Bull Hotel in Horwich. His record showed that he was awarded a pension of 8/- (eight shillings [40p]) a week for a year at the end of 1919.

        In 1920, he married Mary Bromley in Bolton; Hugh Dalton died in 1963.

        He was one of the lucky ones, he lived. Many other young people did not. No future for them.

        So PLEASE, do not give me all this utter, total, absolute bollocks about your life being over, or you have no future, because of Brexit. The world is still open to you, Europe will still be open to you.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Prediction

      It's okay, the Brexiters have told us the devaluation is good for British exporters so I'll just switch to a British designed and built computer - like... like... - I'll get back to you on that.

  3. Wade Burchette

    The Pound will rebound eventually. But the price hike is here to stay.

  4. Tezfair
    WTF?

    Its all b*ll*cks. Dells are already made elsewhere in the EU and no doubt being purchased in that currency.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > Dells are already made elsewhere in the EU

      Dells are already *assembled* elsewhere in the EU: from pre-built motherboards and other subsystems made in the Fast East, using chips made in the USA and the Far East.

      In any case, the pound has fallen a long way against other currencies (including the euro), not just the dollar.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Servers, desktops, etc assembled in Poland, laptops in China.

        Lucky a quote I did for £15k of leased desktops was done on the 30th June price valid for 30dyas ;o) Still got an order for £18k of servers\storage and £15k of precision workstations to submit :o( arse

    2. K
      WTF?

      @Tezfair.. you talk b*ll*cks!

      Got nothing to do with building.. It has to do with component costs and profit reporting, both of which are done in US dollars.. so a lower pound, means cost of components increases and when converting BGP to USD they lose more money!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Could be worse

    Dell were threatening a 30% rise in costs last week.

  6. Nathan 13

    Dell

    Great 10 years ago, shit after that time.

  7. HollyHopDrive

    Is this what they mean....

    ....by getting our county back. You know like the good old days of rip off Britain.

    Well done brexit-ers.....suck it up you've got what you voted for....you bunch of dicks!

    1. AlanT1

      Re: Is this what they mean....

      As I see it the speculators selling £ are making the UK a whole lot more attractive as a manufacturing base.

      Plus it is becoming more and more clear it wasn't the Brexit voters that won the vote it was the Remain voters who didn't bother to vote...

      1. Alfred

        Re: Is this what they mean....

        "As I see it the speculators selling £ are making the UK a whole lot more attractive as a manufacturing base."

        Offset by the hike in tariffs for selling those manufactured goods onwards, once we're out of the single market. To make it attractive to manufacture those goods here, the cost of manufacturing them has to be very low. Which basically means low wages. So we can attract foreign investment for manufacturing, in the same way that China does; by having low-paid workers. It's a gutsy approach; as the rest of the world tries to move up the value chain, chasing high-pay economies, the UK decides to move back down the chain.

    2. astrax

      Re: Is this what they mean....

      It's not very often a company has a "legitimate" reason to instigate a massive price hike, so I get the impression it goes like this:

      "Whoo no Brexit! Loadsa money in the Sky Rocket, here's a price increase!"

      or

      "Boo, Brexit! Everyone's Boracic lint, loadsa Barney Rubble, here's a price increase!"

      Also, you might want to aim some of that vitriol at the last five successive governments who have managed to alienate half of population in quite an impressive manner.

    3. Croc O'Dial

      Re: Is this what they mean....

      Pull your thumb out of your arse and stick it in your mouth and stop whining. Sooner or later, you'll get the tantrum out of the way. Until then, curl your bottom lip over and blubber in your spilt milk.

    4. Yugguy

      Re: Is this what they mean....

      Stop whining. You lost. It's called democracy. It's not best out of three. You are not Death vs Bill and Ted.

      1. Yugguy

        Re: Is this what they mean....

        WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

        I'm voting you down because it's NOT FAIR!!!

        Er, yes it is.

  8. Martin Summers Silver badge

    Yeah they did the price is rising buy stuff now trick every time I've had a quote from them. Soon start discounting readily when you play hardball with your account manager.

  9. AlanT1

    great opportunity

    What a great opportunity to move manufacturing to the UK and make more profit

    1. dedmonst

      Re: great opportunity

      Do you really mean manufacture? As in Dell would also need to persuade Intel/AMD to open a processor fab in the uk; Someone like Micron to open a memory fab in the UK; Western Digital to open a hard drive factory in the UK... and onward for all the other components that make up a computer?

      Or did you mean "assemble" rather than manufacture, in which case you get to pay for all those components in dollars (cos that's what they are traded in) and then use our "famously cheap high quality well trained" UK workforce to assemble them - then you get to compete to sell them against all the countries that aren't weak vs. the dollar... on WTO tariffs until something else is negotiated.

    2. Alfred

      Re: great opportunity

      Move manufacturing to the UK to make more profit? To make it worth doing the UK workers would have to work for less than their competitors in the developing world (less, because they've got trade agreements, and we'd be starting from scratch). So the opportunity does exist, if UK workers are willing to work for less per hour than someone in a factory in China or Malaysia.

      1. tiggity Silver badge

        Re: great opportunity

        Plebs working for as little as possible is the aim of the Conservative party so makes sense!

  10. Yugguy

    Rush order

    We had to push some orders through quick for some kit from America before they hiked the price.

  11. Gis Bun

    Probably all who voted for Brexit were smart enough to place their tech orders prior to the vote. :-)

    Lenovo, HP, ASUS and others will follow [maybe quietly] with increases as well.

    Just like anything else, once it goes up, it won't come back down.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    buy something like a Moto G

    There are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there. So whose bottom lines will be hit? Companies like Dell & Co.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Seems to me just an excuse to fleece the UK again. Many US firms think 1£ =1$ any way. As some one who does have massive purchasing power in a UK company, I will enjoy having this conversation with the prospective Dell account manager next week. I suspect the 10% increase won't even be brought up.

    1. Neil Wilson

      It's your patriotic duty to beat them up severely and make sure they take the currency hit not you.

  14. Neil Wilson

    If they can make the price rises stick, then there is a question about whether the market is competitive enough.

    But more likely they will put prices up, people will push their existing kit along a little longer or change supplier, volumes will drop and the price will go back down again as market reality hits home that a currency shift means suppliers are the ones that take the hit.

    The world is short of demand. There isn't anywhere else in the world to shift this stuff.

  15. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

    Bah HP price rises by around 10% 1st of next month

    We received an email in "HP Simplified Light (Body)", HP is going to raise its prices in the UK by an average of10% 1st of next month

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