Dell to enter small businesses Web hosting

Dell Computer will launch a Web site-hosting operation for small businesses, it was reported on Tuesday. The entrance into the low-margin business comes as some small firms are turning to providers of Web site-hosting to run their e-commerce services instead of buying their own computers to handle these jobs.

Dellhost.com was expected to announce the move on Tuesday. However, the operation could threaten some of the Internet companies Dell has recently begun courting. For example, two weeks ago, Dell formed a unit to sell servers and disk storage equipment to companies that host Web computers and provide Internet service.

The Web-hosting market is expected to grow to $17bn (£10.5bn) in revenue by 2003, up from $2bn (£1.2bn) last year, according to Dell chief executive, Michael Dell.

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