It's an accounting trick. Dell needs to sell a certain amount of goods every quarter. Well they price things to move and load any debt onto next quarters books. Eventually you reach a point like today. Dell has so much debt that it eats into future earnings. This reflects in the stock price. Apple's market cap is 160billion dollars, with 35 billion in reserve. Dells cap is 30 billion dollars. Realistically, Apple could buy Dell in cash.

While the deals are great for endusers, they are cutting their own throats to move product. One thing you can't ignore about Apple, they make profit on everything they sell (no loss leaders there). To an investor, that is a good buy.