Over the past week, we surveyed general electronics stores like Best Buy, Radio Shack and few remaining Circuit City locations to track trends in laptop and desktop PC sales We asked the following questions:

1. How well is Dell selling compared to other brands?

2. What is the top selling Brand right now?

3. What is the top selling model from the top selling brand?

• 73% of respondents stated that Dell computers were selling better than other brands sold at their store location.

• 60% said that Dell was the top brand right now, 27% said that HP was the top brand and 13% said that Sony was the top selling brand.

• The Dell Inspiron was the top model according to 40% of respondents the HP Pavillion was tops according to 20%, while the Dell XPS and Sony VAIO were tops according to 10% each.

Conclusion of Channel Check: The survey shows that Dell computers remain well thought of at least in the consumer electronics retail space. Our survey does not capture corporate or on-line sales but gives some indication to preferences among brands. We did not see netbooks mentioned in this survey, but the incidence of those models might be indicative of the strength (or lack of strength) of the netbook trend. Overall the survey reflects positively on Dell’s brand.

For access to the underlying survey or for more information, please contact Jason Katz at 415.867.0959 or jason@thechannelcheckers.com

Should we buy a Desktop or Laptop?

Should we wait to purchase a new computer until Vista comes out?

The results thus far are interesting. Almost unamiously the survey respondents recommended laptops. Desktops were only recommended as a cheaper alternative or for those interested in high end video gaming. A few respondents pushed Macs, but most suggested standard laptops from the usual manufacturers.

On the subject of waiting until Vista is launched we got some interesting data. First EVERY respondent said “No” to waiting and suggested a purchase now. Most reponsdents claimed that buying a computer that meets the system requirements for Vista is sufficient as Vista can be added later when it is released for general availability. This release date was estimated as 2-6 months by the retailers we contacted.

The most interesting data point we found was that Best Buy is offering a free Vista upgrade coupon with the purchase of a laptop or desktop.

This is interesting to us because it makes us ask, who is paying for this coupon? Is Microsoft offering it in conjunction with the PC manufactrers to protect Q4 demand from consumers who might wait for the Vista launch. Do the PC manufacturers pay for this? Best Buy?

It looks like a margin killer to us, although the rate of redemption could be small, offsetting the hit. We will follow this Best Buy free Vista upgrade offer and see if it is adopted by other retailers in coming weeks, or maybe already has but our data from these other major electronics retailers did not reveal this to be the case.

We’ll run our survey as follows. Call retailers globally and ask the questions:

Should we buy a PC now?

Is there a great sales?

Or should we buy one now because Vista is not that great so get an older O/S based PC now?

We believe the survey results will paint a vivid picture for PC demand at retailers in 4Q as the Vista delays potentially damage Christmas PC sales as the Vista launch slips to 1Q 2007.

Check back in a few days for the results.