Its very difficult to remove the number 1 company from its leader position, once he is there. Ask Pepsi. They have been trying their heart out for more than 100 years!

If we study history of brand warfare, only a handful of brands have done the unthinkable – dislodging the champion brand from its post and being the new number 1 brand. And none of it is more astonishing than HP becoming number 1, removing Dell from its spot.

What went wrong in Dell?

One of the main reasons were Dells obsession of selling directly to the customers. Its ironic that the main reason which made Dell the dirling of Wall Street is the same reason that caused Dell’s downfall. As Dell placed all its bet on one distributional channel, HP was forging unique partnerships with other channel members and slowly but surely overtook them.

Moral of the story – Dont place all your bananas in one basket. Use multiple channels to sell your product. And dont become too much in love with history. What is your strength in one decade may be the cause of your ruins in the next.