I can answer your main question - the level of profit probably is considered satisfactory for a limited risk distributor and shouldn't be considered a mark of commercial failure in any way.
If it's designated as such, then its goods and services will be transfer priced to achieve a low profit margin in that range. The idea being that the small level of profits are in line with the arm's length level of profits a 3rd party company would expect to earn if it had a business with such limited risks. Profits instead accrue to the entity taking all the commercial risk, presumably the US for Dell?