WEBVTT - The Future of the PC Industry 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.600 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer on 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:07.560 Bloomberg Radio. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. I do 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.720 want to just rehashuh and reiterate what Charlie just mentioned. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:14.120 Maderna's vaccine benefits outwing it's risks. This is from that 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.119 FDA advisory panel. We know that they were reviewing and 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.320 voting today, the panel voting twenty zero one extension to 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.240 back the Maderna's shot, and the panel voting at that 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:26.799 meeting on the Maderna vaccine data. Remember, this is about 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:30.640 emergency use authorization. So we will look for that final 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.640 headline about that, but it was largely expected some of 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.280 these headlines that we're seeing, all right, We're talking about 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:38.680 a lot uh, and we're also kind of watching some 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.320 of the big trends that we have seen in our world, 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.000 and when it comes to the tech world, we have 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:47.920 seen worldwide PC shipments totaling about seventy one point four 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.200 million in the third quarter of that's about a three 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.080 point six percent increase from the third quarter of twenty nineteen. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.360 Some data coming from Gardner. You know, for a long 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.280 time we talked about the end of the PC it 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.279 hasn't happened that way, and working from home has been 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:04.920 a boon for those PC workers and PC makers. So 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.280 let's get into that with Sandbird, president of the Client 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.080 Solutions Group at Dell Technologies. He's got a front row 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.240 seat to this industry, responsible for the success of Dell's 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.800 commercial and consumer client portfolio, which includes notebooks, desktops, workstations, tablets, 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.240 tablets and software, and a lot more. He joins us 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.320 on the phone from Austin, Texas. Sam, it is nice 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:25.280 to have you here with us. How are you and 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.600 your team? Uh doing well? Thank you very much for 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:30.720 having me. Carol. Well, we'll talk to us a little 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:32.600 bit about your world, because I know you guys I 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.720 think at the end of November actually came out um 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.520 with earnings. I mean, you guys are seeing some strong 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.399 demand for PCs. Tell us a little bit about that 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.559 and if that strong demand has continued. Yeah, we've seen 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.880 you mentioned some of the results in in Q three. 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.960 If you look at the industry on whole um and 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.440 using the way I d C looks at it, we're 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:58.080 on track to ship about three million PCs in an 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:02.280 industry in which will be the biggest the industry has 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.800 been in six years. Expectations are that it grows again 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.120 next year, and uh, if you look at it. You know, 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.200 we talked ten years ago some people were talking about 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.200 the death of the PC and that was definitely overhyped. 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.240 It's it's not true. And you know, the PC has 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.400 been really important as people have been working, learning from 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.880 home and dealing with the pandemic. Well, what do you 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:24.760 think happened? I agree with you, like I think for 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.600 a while there, that's what we talked about, that the 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.640 death of the PC, and it hasn't been that way. 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.320 What's happened over the last decade and increasingly, as you said, 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:35.000 it's being exacerbated. I think some of those trends as 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.880 a result of working from home. Yeah, the thing we've 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.839 seen is is technology is really important to people being 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:44.720 able to get done what they want to get done, 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:49.200 whether that's being a student, Uh, you know, working in 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.760 a business looking to go change change the world, reinvent 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.120 an approach, or someone just trying to relax and uh, 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:00.720 maybe enjoy some downtime by connecting with friends or playing games. 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.840 And you know, we believe for ten years and from 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:08.120 the beginning of our company when we were uh founded 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.160 that technology and technology in the hands of people is 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.839 a really good thing. It's a positive force for good 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.960 in the world. It helps people be more more productive, 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.200 more successful in their lives. And I think we've really 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.440 seen that come alive in the last decade. And you know, 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.679 during these trying times over the course of this year, well, Sam, 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:27.440 you know what also happened. I feel like we went 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.400 through a period where everybody was like downsizing their like 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.040 technology equipment, you know, phones got smaller, like that was 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:35.640 kind of the trend, and then all of a sudden, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.520 we realized, you know what, I actually like to sit 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:40.840 at a laptop and have some space to work on things. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.480 I don't want to read everything on a tablet or 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.160 on my phone. And I do wonder what happened in 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.280 terms of our thinking, whether it's personally or you know, 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.560 in offices, what happened. Do you think that that train, 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:57.280 that trend kind of shifted. Yeah, you know, Carol, we've 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.920 we've seen that there is not one device and one 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:04.560 approach to end all so times when a small screen 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:07.600 is great, but exactly what you said, a larger screen 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.600 lets me see more information and that's a that's a 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.400 big deal whether I'm I'm doing things on social posts 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.080 or productivity things for work. Being able to see more 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.960 equals I can process more, I can get more more things, 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:24.760 more things done. So you think about that kind of 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.880 form factor. You know, we've seen the same thing of 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.919 the trend has been PCs that are powerful enough to 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.720 do video conferencing, other kind of demands that we threw 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.640 on them, but then people also putting like displays and 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.680 peripherals around them of like I'm sitting here with a 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.920 forty in super wide monitor where you can look at 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.640 two sets of information side by side. It all equals, 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.479 you know, allow people to make better decisions, get things 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.560 figured out faster, have more time to themselves. So we've 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.080 seen the value of the bigger screen. We've seen the 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:59.200 value of a keyboard for input. People want choice and 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.520 there's a re and those have done well because they're 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.400 pretty convenient and easy ways to interact with technology. So 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:08.160 what are you seeing in terms of capital expenditures, you know, 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.920 plan strategies by some of your clients, And I'm curious 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.200 about some of the conversations that you're having that as 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.880 a result of the pandemic, maybe how have things change 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.240 in terms of their expectations for their buying patterns going 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:25.160 into well, we've seen a big increase in the interest 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.640 in technology. We've seen that in different sectors, so you 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.560 think about education, government, consumer sectors have been strong as people, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.680 UM look at the technology they have and think about 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.840 the requirements and upgrade that technology, and you know, we 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.719 look into the future and we see we see that 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.839 continuing to be important. We see a world where work 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.240 will be done in a hybrid fashion. We're not all 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.520 going back to the office, We're not all going to 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:55.680 be in our homes forever. But the flexibility people got 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.120 today they will continue to want in the future. Will 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.920 want technology to be a big part of that. And 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:06.799 companies putting the best technology in people's hands equals people 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.960 can go go do more, be more successful in their jobs. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.040 We looked at gen Z millennial people coming into the workforce, 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:18.560 for over of them are influence in the job decision 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.479 that they make by the technology they have because they 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.640 want to make a difference. They know getting something and 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:24.960 good in their hands helps them do that. UM. One 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.920 thing I want to ask you, Sam is how has 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.240 the pandemic and what you guys have experienced at Dell, 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:35.800 how is it maybe impacted you're thinking about longer term 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.880 strategies when it comes to technology trends and maybe even 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:43.120 how you lead your team. You know, we've we've worked 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.600 very differently, Carol, So I mean we went from about 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.480 of our our company working remote literally overnight we had 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:58.480 of our company working remote. So we saw the you know, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.720 the challenge is and going and doing that that it's 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.760 getting the right technology in um the hands of your 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.880 employees and team members. You know, the process you use 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.320 for how you interact the culture and how you do 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.760 things online. But all that's served us pretty well because 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:20.360 we think about the future world and we see giving 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.960 our team members the flexibility to work how they want. 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.520 And many of the businesses I talked about are are 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.960 working through these same things. But you get your team 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.600 members the ability to work in the way that they want, 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.680 you're gonna be able to attract a broader set of talent. 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.520 You'll be able to engage them in a way that 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.040 allows them to balance, uh, you know, the time they're 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.480 putting into the business and their their personal life. And 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.640 we think that's a really good change. But it's like 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.520 technology isn't a an enabler in that, whether it's a 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.960 you know, PC device at the edge and the parts 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.880 around that, or the infrastructure that you put in place 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:55.920 in your business. The companies that are going to thrive 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.880 and and succeed are investing in that so they can 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.560 get the best people working in the way that they want. Yeah. 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.760 I do feel like the relationships between companies and employees 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.440 and the role of technology and all of this, it 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.920 went from maybe guiding kind of our world to actually 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.720 being a true tool and almost kind of on par 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.200 with I don't want to say on par with people, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.559 but we really figured out a way to use it, 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.240 uh in a way where we were the masters in 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:24.560 terms of getting things done. Yeah, well, I think that's right. 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:27.560 I think we realized, hey, technology is really a friend 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:30.400 and helps us out a lot. It became more apparent 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:32.720 if you didn't have great technology, it was hard to 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.000 be connected with some of the things going on. And 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:37.880 then as we look at the future, like we're building 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:42.600 those capabilities into our systems. I'm excited about the investments 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:44.760 were able to make in technology. You think some of 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.640 the things you mentioned, like how do you build intelligence 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:50.360 into the system so it, you know, it learns you. 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.920 It is a friend that knows you. It does the 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.680 things that you want without you having to mess around 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.840 around on that, whether it's tuning the system, you know, 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:02.080 self healing it. So just as it's a it's a 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:05.200 helper in your life. That's that's our aim and why 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.680 we're bullish around the role technology will play in the 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.760 world today and in the future. Yeah, it's pretty fascinating. 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:13.720 So what do you think, I don't know, when you 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.520 think kind of pie in the sky ideas in terms 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.480 of where technology goes, you know, next next? I mean 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.640 I think about was it twenty years ago, thirty years ago, 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:24.760 like this whole idea of voice recognition, like it was 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.120 just it took a long long time for that to 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:29.880 actually work as well as it does now, right, and 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:32.200 we take it for granted. I talked to you know, 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.560 my home products and asked me, you know, ask for 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.480 this and that, and you name it, you know, whether 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:38.640 it's Google, whether it's Amazon. You know, you guys are 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:41.160 all working on this stuff as well. Where do you 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.840 think it all goes and what's maybe the next big 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:45.839 I don't know, is there a hump that we kind 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.720 of get over when it comes to technology, Well, I. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.480 You know, I think we're seeing UM different devices and 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:54.920 foreign factors all play a big role. We talked a 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:58.880 little bit about intelligence being built into systems, and we're 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.120 seeing that happen in a big way. You hit on 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.640 the way people want to interact with systems, of really 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.400 making that natural. So there are times when a keyboard 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:10.920 is great, there are times when talking is easy, there 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.280 are times when touch is easy, and really building that 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.559 intuitive interface in UM, getting devices so they're connected all 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.480 the time. You know, we've seen who would have thought 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.720 about connectivity, but you sit and suddenly home networks were overburdened. 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.200 You can think about the importance of screens and where 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:28.880 those will show up in an office environment and a 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.520 house and like the uh, you know, you can go 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:35.440 back to future visions of how do I get that 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:38.200 that data in front of me so that I'm able 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:40.520 to interact with it? And then and you know, another 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:42.720 thing we're thinking about, Carol, is just how we also 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:46.320 do that in a really sustainable way and building out 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:50.440 a circular economy, so you know, your old technology is 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.040 essentially going into your new technology, and how we're recycling 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.760 those components so at the same time we push cutting edge. 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.200 We want to be responsible in what we're doing. I 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.400 love I love you said that. We were talking earlier 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.679 about the Patagonia CEO. One of our correspondents caught up 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.840 with him, and you know that's what they are all about. 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.080 But there is something that seems like it also happened 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:13.840 this year where we've all been thinking about sustainability, sustainability 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.720 or regenerative or circularity. But I do feel like it 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:18.960 took a big step forward. Is that is that fair 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.840 to say, Sam, We've just got about forty seconds left. Yeah, 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.960 I mean we we've had it as something important to 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:27.560 us for quite a while, but certainly look at it. 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.360 We're looking at it more and going how do we 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.599 push that forward? Carol. You know we've done that with plastics, 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:36.280 precious metals, with magnets in our systems, and there's opportunity 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:38.200 to do more. So I think it's it's brought that 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.120 into clarity, certainly for us and for many people in 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.360 the world. All Right, Sam, thank you so much. Have 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.120 a healthy and happy or as happy as can be 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.000 in this environment, but certainly a safe holiday season, Sam, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.560 thank you so much. Sambird is president of the Client 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.920 Solutions Group over at Dell Technologies, and he was joining 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:57.959 us on the phone from Austin, Texas.