New Wounds Delay Dell's Recovery

Some analysts, including Kaufman's Shaw Wu, see Dell's continued missteps as evidence that the company has lost its way. The onetime pioneer of the direct-sale build-to-order model has been struggling to become more of an indirect retail supplier with a contract manufacturing approach.

Perhaps in a sign that the wheels are still spinning, Dell last month, shuffled out some top managers and announced a restructuring of its business units along four customer segments.

One shiny parachute raised eyebrows. Operations chief Mike Cannon was given a $10 million severance package and will serve for two years as a $1.5 million consultant to Dell. The costly exit prompted some, including TheStreet.com's Mike Goodman, to suggest that Dell needs to consider a dividend as a better use of its $8.5 billion in cash.

Dell shares fell 4.2% Monday to close at $10.65 and are down 50% over the past year.