Dell Technologies, once a pioneering PC builder from Texas, has transformed into a global powerhouse across consumer computing and enterprise solutions. The brand is synonymous with reliable laptops (XPS and Inspiron), business workstations, corporate servers (PowerEdge), storage systems (PowerVault/PowerScale) and more. Yet Dell’s story today unfolds in a crowded market. Competitors around the world—North American, Asian and European—vie for customers in laptops, desktops, peripherals, servers, storage and cloud infrastructure.
In consumer PCs, Dell competes head-to-head with HP Inc. and Lenovo (the world’s largest PC maker), while premium performance and ecosystem strength come from Apple’s Mac lineup. Brand rivals like Asus and Acer target gaming and value segments. On the enterprise side, Dell’s challengers include Hewlett Packard Enterprise (the spinoff from HP Inc.), IBM, Cisco and others with deep portfolios of servers, storage and networking gear. Tech giants Amazon, Microsoft and Google also loom large: their cloud infrastructure and services compete directly with Dell’s offerings.
This article explores Dell’s leading competitors globally, highlighting each company’s core business, points of overlap with Dell’s products, and recent news or strategic moves. We examine how each brand positions itself—through product launches, financial results and partnerships—and how that shapes the competitive landscape. By exploring these rival stories from North America, Asia and Europe, we gain context on how Dell must innovate and differentiate.
Below, each competitor section offers a concise overview: a brief company background, the areas where it directly competes with Dell, and a roundup of its latest developments. The tone is business-savvy and strategic—aiming to illuminate how market leaders define their brand narratives and maintain an edge in the tech industry.
Top Competitors of Dell
1) HP Inc.
Website – https://www.hp.com/us-en/
HP Inc. is a leading American PC and printer manufacturer, historically rivaling Dell in consumer and small-business markets. It offers laptops (Pavilion, Envy, Spectre), desktops, monitors and printers. HP’s strength in printers complements areas where Dell is weaker. In PCs, HP usually ranks second globally behind Lenovo. For example, IDC data for Q1 2025 show HP Inc. shipped 12.7 million PCs for a 20.2% market share, compared to Dell’s 15.1%. This keeps HP close behind Dell in overall PC volumes.
HP’s strategy now emphasizes AI-enabled PCs. In mid-2024, HP announced a unified product naming scheme (the “Omni” series) to prepare for the AI era. It launched devices like the HP OmniBook X AI PC, built on ARM-based Snapdragon chips with Windows Copilot integration.
Financially, HP’s PC business has seen steady growth: in Q1 2025 PC revenue grew ~7% year-over-year to $9.0 billion. HP also continues to invest in emerging form factors (e.g. VR/AR headsets and 3D printers) to maintain its cutting-edge profile. HP also remains a leader in printers and imaging, a business Dell exited years ago. These printing and commercial device businesses provide steady cash flows for HP, complementing its PC lineup.
2) Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
Website – https://www.hpe.com/
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is the enterprise spinoff of HP Inc. (2015) focusing on servers, storage, networking and IT services. Its portfolio includes ProLiant servers, Apollo HPC servers, Primera/Nimble storage, Aruba networking and the GreenLake cloud platform. Dell competes with HPE across these areas (e.g. HPE ProLiant vs Dell PowerEdge, HPE networking vs Dell switches). Both companies sell edge and data-center solutions to large customers.
In Q4 FY2024 (ended Oct 2024) HPE reported revenue of $8.5 billion (up 15% YoY). CEO Antonio Neri said HPE delivered an “exceptional” quarter driven by hybrid cloud, AI and networking – capabilities that will be bolstered by HPE’s pending Juniper Networks acquisition. (The ~$14B Juniper deal, which aims to expand HPE’s networking business, is expected to close in early 2025hpe.com.) HPE’s Q4 server revenue was $4.7 billion (up 32% YoY), reflecting strong demand for its latest ProLiant servers.
HPE also emphasizes its services (Pointnext) and partnerships (e.g. with AMD for EPYC servers), highlighting a full-stack hybrid-cloud strategy. Its GreenLake platform aims to make on-prem hardware operate like the public cloud, a direct alternative to Dell’s offerings.
3) Lenovo
Website – https://www.lenovo.com/
Lenovo is a Chinese multinational and the world’s largest PC vendor. With roughly $60–70 billion in annual revenue, it makes everything from Yoga and ThinkPad laptops to Legion gaming PCs and data-center systems. Lenovo also acquired IBM’s x86 server business, giving it a strong enterprise presence in servers and storage. Dell competes with Lenovo in both PCs and infrastructure: Lenovo’s ThinkSystem servers and storage arrays parallel Dell’s PowerEdge and PowerScale. Both companies serve global markets; Lenovo is especially strong in Asia and emerging regions.
Lenovo has invested heavily in AI and hybrid cloud. Its Infrastructure Solutions Group (servers, storage, HPC) grew 63% year-over-year in FY2025, reflecting rapid expansion in datacenter projects. Lenovo’s PC division also expanded — in Q1 2025 PC sales reached $11.8 billion (up 13% YoY), cementing its market leadership.
At its 2024 Innovation World event, Lenovo unveiled AI-focused PCs including the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 “Aura Edition” and other new Copilot+ models. Lenovo’s scope also includes mobile (smartphones via Motorola) and tablets, though PCs generate the majority of sales. It maintains an aggressive R&D program, with thousands of patents globally, and is expanding into edge computing and retail solutions.
4) Apple
Website – https://www.apple.com/
Apple is a US tech giant known for its consumer electronics ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.). In computing, its MacBook and iMac lines target the premium segment; Dell competes in laptops and desktops primarily via Windows/Intel devices. Apple designs its own silicon (M-series chips), giving it a performance lead in many applications. Apple’s brand is distinct (design, integration, ecosystem), though it indirectly competes with Dell on enterprise device management and high-end workstations.
Recently Apple has pushed its hardware performance even higher. In October 2023 Apple unveiled new MacBook Pro models featuring the next-generation M3 chips, promising greater speed and efficiency. In March 2024 it updated the MacBook Air with the M3 chip as well, marketing it as “the world’s best consumer laptop for AI” due to its powerful NPU and GPU.
Most recently (Mar 2025) Apple introduced a redesigned Mac Studio workstation with new M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, calling it “the most powerful Mac ever” capable of running a 600-billion-parameter AI model entirely in memory.
Apple’s influence in enterprise is growing through Apple Business Manager and strong security features, but Windows still dominates many corporate environments. Apple’s design-centric brand forces competitors like Dell to push innovative materials and form factors to keep pace in the premium PC segment.
5) Microsoft
Website – https://www.microsoft.com/
Microsoft is a US software-and-cloud powerhouse. Its Surface laptops and tablets aim at high-end Windows PCs, rivaling Dell’s premium XPS models. More importantly, Microsoft competes in enterprise IT through its Azure cloud platform and services (Windows Server, SQL Server, Azure infrastructure, etc.). Many customers weigh Azure versus on-prem Dell solutions when migrating to the cloud. Microsoft’s Windows and productivity software (Office 365) also shape Dell’s enterprise ecosystem.
Financially, Microsoft is massive: it reported over $245 billion revenue in FY2024. Its Intelligent Cloud segment (including Azure, server products and cloud services) grew strongly (about 20% YoY), with Azure and related cloud services up roughly 30%.
In hardware, Microsoft is pushing AI-enabled PCs: in mid-2025 it launched new Copilot+ PCs (Surface Laptop 13-inch, Surface Pro 12-inch) powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chips with a 45-TOPS AI NPU. Microsoft claims these devices are about 50% faster than the prior Surface models and even outperform a MacBook Air with M3 in AI tasks.
Microsoft’s consumer brand also integrates AI (Windows Copilot, Office Copilot), and Dell has collaborated with Microsoft on AI-ready PCs that combine Dell’s hardware with Microsoft’s AI software.
6) IBM
Website – https://www.ibm.com/
IBM is a legacy technology company that competes with Dell in enterprise hardware and software. Its offerings include Power servers, IBM Z mainframes, storage systems, and the Red Hat hybrid-cloud platform. Unlike Dell’s x86 emphasis, IBM often targets specialized markets (e.g. mainframes for finance) and software-led value propositions. Both companies sell services and consulting to large enterprises, though IBM leans heavily on software and services.
IBM’s recent financials show moderate growth. In Q3 2025 IBM reported ~10% growth in its software/hybrid-cloud segment (including Red Hat, up ~14%). Its infrastructure segment grew ~17% YoY, with hybrid infrastructure up 28% and IBM Z mainframes surging 61% year-over-year.
IBM is focusing its brand on hybrid cloud and AI, using Red Hat OpenShift as the backbone for enterprise cloud. IBM’s global consulting arm offers business transformation services that complement its tech sales. For FY2025, IBM expects overall revenue growth above 5%, reflecting steady demand for enterprise IT modernization.
7) Cisco
Website – https://www.cisco.com/
Cisco Systems is the dominant provider of networking and communications equipment. It sells routers, switches, wireless access points and security appliances to enterprises – the core of networking that overlaps Dell’s interest in data-center connectivity. (Dell also sells some network gear, but Cisco is far larger in switching and routing). Both companies also offer servers: Cisco’s UCS systems (coupled with Nexus switches) can be an alternative to Dell’s PowerEdge, and both pursue SD-WAN and security solutions. Cisco’s brand is built on networking reliability and security.
Cisco’s recent strategy emphasizes cloud software and analytics. In Q4 FY2025 (ended July 2025), Cisco reported revenue of $14.7 billion (+8% YoY) and full-year revenue of $56.7 billion (+5%). Notably, CEO Chuck Robbins said Cisco received over $2 billion in orders from major cloud providers for AI infrastructure gear in FY2025, indicating strong demand for Cisco’s servers and switches in AI data centers.
In Mar 2024 Cisco completed its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, merging its networking hardware with Splunk’s data analytics and security software – a move intended to make Cisco one of the largest enterprise software vendors. Cisco has also expanded into cloud-managed networking (Meraki) and software subscriptions, mirroring Dell’s pivot toward subscription and as-a-service models.
8) Amazon (AWS)
Website – https://aws.amazon.com/
Amazon’s AWS division is the #1 global cloud infrastructure provider. Dell’s competition with AWS comes through the hybrid cloud choice: AWS offers IaaS, serverless and managed services that some enterprises adopt instead of buying Dell servers and storage. Dell also partners with AWS (e.g. VMware Cloud on AWS), but broadly AWS competes by offering elastic scale and a vast ecosystem of services.
AWS holds roughly 32% of the cloud IaaS/PaaS market (2023 data). Growth has moderated but remains robust: in Q3 2025, AWS revenue grew about 20% year-over-year, boosted by enterprise demand for AI and data services. AWS is highly profitable – it contributes about 60% of Amazon’s operating income.
AWS continues to push hardware innovations (custom Graviton CPUs, Trainium/Inferentia AI chips) and cloud services (like SageMaker AI platform) to stay ahead. AWS has also extended its on-prem offerings (Outposts, Local Zones) to serve customers needing hybrid setups, partly overlapping Dell’s strengths. Dell’s brand strategy must position its hybrid and on-prem solutions (for example, with VMware partnerships) as complementary to or better integrated than AWS’s offerings.
9) Google (Alphabet)
Website – https://www.google.com/
Google (part of Alphabet) competes with Dell primarily through its cloud services (Google Cloud) and AI technologies. Google Cloud provides IaaS, PaaS and data/AI platforms (Vertex AI, BigQuery, etc.) as alternatives to on-prem hardware. Google also develops custom AI chips (TPUs) and promotes its AI software, competing with Dell’s GPU server offerings. Both Google and Dell sell to large enterprises and governments, but Google’s core brand remains search and mobile, whereas Dell’s is hardware.
Google Cloud has been growing rapidly. In Q3 2025, Google Cloud revenue was $15.16 billion, up 34% year-over-year, reflecting robust demand for cloud-based AI infrastructure. CEO Sundar Pichai noted Google Cloud’s signed backlog exceeded $150 billion. Google emphasizes its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) accelerators and its generative AI services (Bard, Gemini) to differentiate its cloud. While AWS and Azure remain larger, Google Cloud is narrowing the gap and becoming a strong #3 with a focus on AI.
Google also develops ChromeOS for laptops (Chromebooks) and Android tablets, an area where Dell’s competitor laptops can use similar lightweight OS’s. Google’s AI research (DeepMind) influences industry trends, pushing Dell and others to integrate AI into every product line.
10) Oracle
Website – https://www.oracle.com/
Oracle is known for enterprise databases, applications and (since acquiring Sun in 2010) hardware. It sells engineered systems like Exadata (database servers), Oracle Linux servers (x86 and SPARC) and Exadata Cloud@Customer for enterprise clients. Dell competes with Oracle in servers and storage: Oracle’s ZFS storage arrays and its on-prem databases running on Oracle servers are alternatives to Dell EMC storage and servers. In the cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is Oracle’s answer to on-prem private clouds and public clouds like AWS and Azure.
Oracle’s recent results highlight an aggressive cloud pivot. In FY2023 Oracle reached $50 billion revenue (up 18%). Its cloud infrastructure business soared (77% growth in Q4 FY2023) as Oracle invested in its Gen2 Cloud. Oracle promoted this Gen2 Cloud as “the number 1 choice for running generative AI”, boasting ultra-high-speed GPU clusters. For instance, NVIDIA runs some of its AI infrastructure on Oracle’s hardware, and Oracle says over $2 billion in AI contracts were signed on its Gen2 Cloud.
Oracle is also a leader in SaaS (Fusion ERP, NetSuite), which Dell does not offer, but many Dell customers run Oracle’s software on Dell infrastructure. Oracle’s brand narrative has become one of integrated cloud applications and cloud infrastructure, contrasting with Dell’s more hardware-centric brand.
11) Huawei
Website – https://www.huawei.com/
Huawei is a Chinese telecom and IT company. In enterprise tech, it offers servers (FusionServer), storage (OceanStor) and networking gear (both data center and carrier networks). Dell competes with Huawei mainly in Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe – in regions where Huawei’s equipment is used by telcos and enterprises. (Huawei’s consumer smartphones and laptops have minimal overlap with Dell’s business PCs.) U.S. sanctions have limited Huawei’s access to some chip technologies, but it remains strong in China and emerging markets.
Huawei’s recent messaging emphasizes AI infrastructure. At Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2023, Huawei unveiled new storage and data-center solutions such as “container storage” and “AI storage” systems designed for next-generation AI workloads. It also promotes its Ascend AI processors and Kunpeng CPUs for servers. Huawei’s brand narrative focuses on innovation and security amid global challenges. In telecom, Huawei dominates 5G network gear globally (an area without a Dell analogue), but its strong carrier ties can influence IT sales.
Huawei’s emphasis on homegrown chips and HarmonyOS is part of its story of technological self-reliance. Other niche rivals also shape Dell’s field: storage specialists like NetApp and Pure Storage continue to push innovation in data management, and networking challengers such as Arista drive high-performance data center solutions. Dell must continue to watch them closely.
12) Acer
Website – https://www.acer.com/
Acer is a Taiwanese multinational known for PCs, monitors and other electronics. It competes with Dell on desktops and laptops, especially in budget and gaming segments (Acer’s Predator gaming laptops and monitors are direct rivals to Dell’s Alienware). Acer also makes Chromebooks (for education) and a wide range of displays. It does not have a server or enterprise IT division like Dell’s.
Financially, Acer reported around NT$241 billion (~$7.5 billion) in revenue for FY2023, with NT$4.93 billion net profit. The company said its PC business has stabilized and it is optimistic about the AI-driven future. Acer continues to push innovation in gaming (e.g. new Predator laptops) and emerging tech like 3D spatial displays. Acer’s brand narrative emphasizes affordable innovation.
Overall, Acer is a smaller global PC vendor (on the order of 5–7% market share) that pressures Dell at the low end of the market. Acer’s Predator monitors and peripherals (often co-branded with graphics partners) bolster its gaming image, forcing Dell to keep its gaming Alienware lineup competitive. Acer has also spun off certain data center products to focus on core PC/display businesses.
13) Fujitsu
Website – https://global.fujitsu/en-global
Fujitsu is a Japanese IT company that sells servers (PRIMERGY, PRIMEQUEST), storage (ETERNUS), mainframes and provides systems integration services. Dell competes with Fujitsu mainly in Asia and Europe on enterprise hardware. For example, Fujitsu’s PRIMERGY servers (x86-based) rival Dell’s PowerEdge, and Fujitsu storage competes with Dell EMC’s SANs and NAS. Fujitsu also partners with Intel and AMD for advanced chips (e.g. the Fugaku supercomputer using Fujitsu CPUs). Its brand includes a focus on reliability and energy efficiency for large enterprises and governments.
Fujitsu’s latest results show steady growth. For FY2024, Fujitsu reported revenue of ¥2,245.9 billion (≈$16.5B), up 5.1% YoY. Its new business lines “Fujitsu Uvance” (focused on sustainable ICT) and modernization services saw especially strong growth (31% and 70%, respectively). The company markets its servers and solutions on digital transformation and sustainability.
Fujitsu’s strengths lie in public-sector and enterprise integration in Japan/Europe, leveraging local partnerships where Dell has less presence. Fujitsu even built the Fugaku supercomputer (#1 on Top500), showing its HPC prowess. Dell’s HPC offerings (PowerEdge with NVIDIA GPUs) similarly target research centers, but Fujitsu’s government ties and system-integration brand set it apart.
Conclusion
The global tech landscape around Dell is dynamic, with each competitor offering a distinct brand story. HP Inc. and Lenovo vie for PC leadership by combining broad hardware portfolios with new AI capabilities, while Apple pushes the envelope on design and in-house silicon performance. Microsoft and Google leverage their dominant software and cloud platforms to influence enterprise computing. Meanwhile, HPE, IBM, Cisco and Huawei drive innovation in servers, networking and specialized infrastructure. Even smaller firms like Acer and Fujitsu introduce niche innovations (affordable gaming PCs, integrated business services) that shape the market.
Each brand balances legacy strengths with new trends. We see a clear pivot toward AI, with next-generation processors and generative-AI features infused across PC and data-center product lines. Strategic partnerships and acquisitions (Cisco/Splunk, HPE/Juniper, Oracle’s AI contracts) show these companies constantly recalibrating. Financially, many competitors have reported robust growth in cloud, hybrid and AI sectors, underscoring confidence in their chosen directions.
For Dell, understanding these rival narratives is key to its own brand strategy. Dell’s story—built on customization, direct customer relationships and an end-to-end solutions portfolio—must now integrate these industry shifts. Whether through its APEX Cloud services, AI-ready PCs or networking improvements, Dell is positioning itself to complement and challenge these competitors. Ultimately, leading the market requires not just matching features but telling a compelling brand story about innovation, reliability and customer focus. An eye on these competitors and their approaches will help Dell refine its own brand narrative in an ever-evolving tech industry.
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