Dell Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. compete fiercely in the personal-computer market, yet they have had a cozy relationship in printers for the past four years. Dell hawked HP printers and ink cartridges in a deal that generated more than $100 million a year for HP. But on July 18, Dell said it plans to launch its own line of printers by yearend. Five days later, HP fired off a terse letter to Dell, cutting off all printer shipments immediately. Dell doesn't care. It's bent on dinging HP's most profitable business―printers. With rivals back on their heels because of the soft economy, Dell is playing hardball. It's moving aggressively into a broad range of new markets, including printers, handheld computers, storage, and networking gear. And it's swinging for the fences: By 2007, the Austin (Tex.) company wants to double sales, to $60 billion, with half of that coming from non-PC businesses―compared with a mere 19% of its $32 billion revenue today.
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