Dell Hoping to Scoop Up Clustered Storage Vendor Exanet

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Dell is apparently hoping to reach out into the enterprise storage space and has placed a bid to acquire clustered storage vendor Exanet based out of Israel.

"The transaction has not yet been approved by the Israel court, so we won't speculate on its completion or timing," a Dell spokesman said in response to a Computerworld inquiry.

The bid included an offer to purchase Exanet's assets, which are mostly patents, and other intellectual property. The offer must be court approved through a Chapter 7 liquidation in Israel.

Exanet also has offices in New York, Europe, and Japan.

Acer Remains Unstoppable, Posts Record Revenue and Profit

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Like a freight train going downhill on greased up tracks, there doesn't appear to be any stopping Acer, although there's no going down for this OEM.

Quite the opposite, actually, as Acer's revenue and profit numbers for 2009 climbed to record highs. According to Acer's financial report for 2009, the company's consolidated revenues reached $17.5 billion with net operating profit hitting $478.1 million. Both represent Acer's best annual figures on record to date.

While there have been some in the enthusiast community who have criticized Acer for a perceived lack in quality, that perception, whether true or not, has done little to curb the company's sales. And ever the confident OEM, Acer said recently it plans on becoming the world's No. 1 PC maker by 2012, a spot currently occupied by HP.

Enterprises Hoping for More Pay-Per-Use Models in Software

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An increasing number of SMBs and other enterprise software customers are getting fed up with paying for software features they may never use, suggests a new IDC report. The solution? Usage-based software pricing.

"Customers believe they have been forced to buy more software than they need or use," wrote IDC analyst Amy Konary.

According to Konary, software vendors need to start looking at pay-per-use models "where real value is in the ease, intuitiveness, and seamlessness of the experience." She likened the idea to the music industry, in which customers are no longer forced to buy a CD in order to enjoy one or two songs.

On the flip side, vendors fear they would lose revenue by switching to a pay-per-use model, and Konary concedes this is a valid concern. However, she suggests a compromise like the tiered pricing used by cell phone carriers.

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ASRock Profits Skyrocket as Second Tier Mobo Maker Shifts Market Focus

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ASRock's aggressive strategy to build upon its branded motherboard business appears to be working, and in a big way. The second-tier mobo maker reported net profits of about $34.8 million on consolidated revenues of a little over $300.1 million. That's a jump of 62.7 percent in sales and 65.2 percent in profits, DigiTimes reports.

The numbers are promising for ASRock, to the say the least, but even more so considering the company recently said it wanted to start targeting the high end market. And it has the production to do so. ASRock shipped about 7 million of its own-branded motherboards in 2009, putting the company on par with MSI and ECS, both of which have been jockeying for the No. 3 spot in global branded mobos.

According to previous reports, ASRock has a good chance of doing even better in 2010 and could ship 9 million motherboards.

Image Credit: Parkov Hardware via sodesk.com