DELL, THE ONCE direct-only flogger of PC boxes is off shopping in China.

Founder and Jobs-like prodigal CEO, Michael Dell said in Beijing that he expects to spend $23 billion on bits and bobs for his lines of gadgetry this year. That's up from $18 billion last year. He'll spend even more next year.

Mikey also told reporters that his company would be flogging stuff that punters in China and India might like.

"This year, we plan to introduce 50 per cent more notebook platforms than we introduced last year, including exciting new products aimed exactly at Chinese customer needs," he said.

That's a whole one-a-half times the number of notebook platforms it had in 2007, which is pretty exciting, huh? And some of these will be cheap enough that the Chinese folk that make them might be able to afford them.

Dell said he thinks there is tremendous expansion potential in China. A spokesman told Chinatechnews the company is aiming for double digit growth in the populous republic this year.

The firm sells through retail channels in China, after Dell bit the bullet and began ditching the direct sales model it championed for a decade or so. µ