[devit]

The problem of these companies is that they sell highly overpriced hardware that is in the best case sold because the consumer really wants support and risk avoidance, in the middle case because of vendor lock-in and in the worst case because of direct or indirect corruption.

Obviously this is not economically efficient, and thus eventually the scheme has to unravel.

[creshal]

Overpriced, really? Dell sells desktop boxes sufficient for office work with three years on-site support for under 400€, and fast servers for under 1000€ kitted out.

If that's overpriced I really need to talk to your hardware supplier.

(Of course, they all have high-end products, but the breadth of the offerings is usually high enough that they're always an option. They're not stupid.)

[devit]

Indeed, this is not true for a substantial portion of Dell's products.