Dell denies solid-state laptop failure figures

Claims report-writers didn't contact it

Dell has hit back at a report claiming as many as 30 percent of laptops featuring solid state drives are being returned because of technical failure and poor performance.

The claims, which were published by Avian Securities described a "large computer manufacturer", which was widely assumed to have been referring to Dell and its SSD supplier Samsung.

Dell confirmed it was in fact the manufacturer in question when it posted a response blasting the claims on its blog.

"Sometimes we have to react to information that has no basis in reality," the blog says. "That's what we're dealing with here. Here's the real story: the 20 to 30 percent failure and return rates cited by Avian Securities don't even vaguely resemble what's happening in our business. It's also true that Avian did not contact us while doing their research. Said another way, it's just not true.

"Whether we're talking about a new technology or an established one, Dell is extremely strict on quality variations. Hard-drive quality in particular is closely monitored by virtue of its job: to store customer data. Computers can be easily replaced – customer data cannot."