Dell, the $62-billion technology major, will double its retail footprint to have 800 exclusive stores across the country over the next one year so that it can meet the increasing demand for its devices.

“We wish to double the number of Dell Stores and double the number of cities that we are present in. Its all part of the company’s strategy to be present across channels so that customers can choose where they want to buy our products from,” said Amit Midha, President, Dell Asia Pacific and Chairman, Dell Global Emerging Markets.

The company wants to expand in tier-II destinations while increasing presence in tier-I cities, Midha said in an interaction with BusinessLine . Dell’s 400th store, where it retails gadgets such as tablets and personal computers, was unveiled at Hong Kong Bazar in Gurgaon last month. It may be recalled that the company had only 47 such stores in 2013.

This is also part of Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dell’s new gameplan of being a partner-led company, moving away from the long standing model of selling direct to customers.

“Our premium products are better presented in branded stores than third party outlets,” said Midha.

Dell went private in November last year after Michael Dell acquired the company with the help of private equity firm Silver Lake Partners for $24.9 billion. Subsequently, it embarked on a journey of transforming itself from a pure-play hardware vendor to an end-to-end scalable solutions provider.

The efforts seem to be bearing fruit, with India emerging to be one of Dell’s most important markets globally. In Q3, India grew by over 50 per cent for Dell, making it the company’s third largest market after the US and China on a revenue base of $2 billion.

Dell currently employs about 27,000 staffers in India, about 23,000 of which are associated with the company’s services business that competes with the likes of TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

Dell is bullish on India, Midha said, adding that it will recruit more staffers here. However, the company wants better quality talent to come in from smaller cities, especially in emerging areas of security, big data and others.

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