Dell Moving into Best Buy…in January

In a major move, Dell computers will be available in more than 900 Best Buy stores in the United States. The catch: it'll happen after the holiday season.

Computer maker Dell famously made its brand on direct sales, offering computers directly to customers via catalogs, the phone, and the Web and bypassing traditional retail channels. As the company struggles to regain market share from Hewlett-Packard and other competitors, the computer maker has been moving back into retail channels both in the United States and overseas. Today, the company made another major play in the retail sector with the announcement (PDF) that Dell computers will go on sale in more than 900 U.S. Best Buy locations beginning in January 2008.

"American consumers want to choose from among their favorite brands—all of their favorite brands—when buying a computer," said Best Buy senior VP Dave Morrish, in a statement. "The addition of Dell to our retail and online selection gives Best Buy customers unprecedented choice when buying a computer."

Dell systems scheduled to be available through Best Buy include the XPS M1330, Inspiron 1521, and Inspiron 1420 notebooks. Moving into Best Buy, Dell will apparently be missing the lucrative end-of-year holiday buying season; however, the move is likely still a smart one for the computer maker: Best Buy reports that "Dell" is one of the most-searched terms on the Best Buy Web site, despite the fact Dell products have never been for sale there. Best Buy sold Dell systems in the early 1990s, before e-commerce took off: Dell ended the arrangement in 1994 due to poor sales.