In spite of these difficulties, Dell’s direct model has translated surprisingly well to global
markets, and its overseas sales have matched the torrid growth rate of its U.S. sales. Online
sales are quite substantial in many markets. In Japan, for instance, 80% of Dell’s sales are
driven by the web and 40% of sales are actually online. Dell Japan has built about 1500
Premier Pages for its customers, even though its customer base is more skewed toward small
businesses there.31