Dell seeks to cash in with retailers

The company said on Monday at the National Retail Federation's Convention and Expo in New York that it would enter the market for retail point-of-sale equipment with a new line of electronic cash registers. Dell will create its register by bundling one of its Optiplex desktop PCs with equipment such as a touch screen, bar code scanner, thermal printer and cash drawer. Prices on the cash machines will start at $1,794, the company said in a statement.

Dell's cash register is the latest in a string of products that the Austin, Texas, PC maker has introduced recently with the aim of expanding the reach of its PC business. Over the last several quarters, Dell has stepped up its efforts to sell PCs and notebooks to consumers. It has also launched a "white box" PC program to reach resellers who normally wouldn't buy Dell hardware.

But the company faces stiff competition in the retail point of sale space from IBM and NCR, which have sold cash registers for years. Dell, the newcomer, must compete with these well-entrenched competitors not only on price, but also in areas such as integration--making its systems work effectively with existing hardware and software.

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