Early Q4 PC sales numbers point to Dell's comeback
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The Michael Dell reformation strategy evidently paid off for his company in the last quarter of the year, according to the first numbers from IDC. Market share has stopped falling, and shipment growth is finally outpacing the average.
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Yesterday's release by Dell Computer of very preliminary earnings numbers for its previous fiscal quarter may give investors at least a handful of data to help them understand the turmoil from which it may be recovering...if it is recovering. The company doesn't appear to be hemorrhaging, and there seems to be at least some good news. But it's hard not to keep seeing question marks and unresolved issues.
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Dell and HP reported revenue declines while EMC and IBM posted gains in storage hardware sales in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to IDC.
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Dell is revamping its support-services offering as the company continues to battle shrinking growth in PC and server sales.
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(InfoWorld) - PC vendors reported global shipment growth of 12.5 percent in the second quarter as every major vendor except Dell posted a double-digit percentage increase in unit shipments compared to the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday by IDC. Dell shipped 4.9 percent fewer PCs during the quarter than it did in 2006 as the company continued to struggle with a corporate restructuring effort that has included deep job cuts, changes in executive leadership, and a new strategy of selling computers through retail channels instead of only online. In contrast, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) consolidated its position as the world's largest PC vendor with unit shipment growth of 36.5 percent. Overall, vendors sold 58.8 million PCs in the quarter, IDC said. A report released on the same day by Gartner showed similar results with Dell sliding 5.5 percent compared to HP's growth of 36.6 percent. Gartner reported that global PC shipments rose 11.7 percent to 61.1 million units. HP is seeing good results because of a multifaceted approach that allows the company to concentrate its sales efforts on new regions if sales slump in another sector, said David Daoud, manager of the personal computing and PC tracker programs at IDC. "They are not putting all their eggs in a single basket," he said. "That is the result for a company that has adopted a multifaceted approach. PC shipments were slightly better than expected in the U.S., but they have done even better outside the U.S. in emerging markets and western Europe. So they can manage multiple regions." Despite the contrast in trends, none of the top five vendors changed their worldwide rankings by market share. For the quarter, HP claimed the top spot with 19.3 percent of global PC sales volume, leading Dell with 16.1 percent, Lenovo with 8.3 percent, Acer with 7.2 percent and Toshiba with 4.1 percent, according to IDC. The Gartner study showed the same rankings. However, Acer could soon begin to climb the rankings, if its success continues. The company improved its PC shipment volume by 55.4 percent in the second quarter, pulling close behind Lenovo, which grew at 22.3 percent. "Acer is laser-focused on particular segments, especially SMB and channel resellers," Daoud said. "They are just plowing." In the U.S., Acer is only the sixth-biggest PC vendor but showed the fastest rise in shipments, improving by 163.8 percent over the second quarter of 2006. Overall, the U.S. market is lead by Dell with 28.4 percent market share by shipments, then HP with 23.6 percent, Gateway and Apple with 5.6 percent each, Toshiba with 5.3 percent, and Acer with 5.2 percent. IDC counts PC shipments including sales of desktops, notebooks, ultraportables, and x86 servers, but not handhelds. Overall, the global market achieved its 12.5 percent shipment growth in the quarter thanks to good activity in the Asia-Pacific region and to slightly better than expected activity in the U.S., Daoud said. That growth rate was higher than the first quarter, when shipments rose 10.9 percent over that period in the previous year, and higher than the second quarter of 2006, when shipments rose 9.7 percent year on year. For the future, consumers continue to buy notebooks instead of desktops as the cost premium between the two models has narrowed to its smallest differential yet. IDC forecast strong growth in the second half of 2007 but said that market competition will be more complex than just cutting prices. Instead, PC vendors will try to get customers' attention with system design, customer service, channel coverage, and market expansion.
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Dell Inc. , the world's  second-largest computer maker, said on Thursday it will soon  start selling its laptops and desktops at Asian retail chains  and stores.
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InfoWorld - Dell is seeing strong demand for its products in several Asian markets and is pleased with customer acceptance of Microsoft&#39;s&#160;new Windows Vista operating system, according to one of the computer manufacturer&#39;s senior executives in the region.
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Fueled by surging demand from business customers in the latest quarter, Dell Inc. is geared to post third-quarter earnings in line with Wall Street expectations, though analysts say declining component prices
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Dell Inc. said that an increase in sales to corporations led to record revenue in the fourth quarter, although profit slipped because of a one-time tax charge.
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Dell completed an internal accounting investigation Tuesday and&#160;restated its financial results&#160;from fiscal 2003 to the first quarter of 2007, bringing it into compliance with listing requirements specified by the Nasdaq stock exchange.For the restatement period, Dell cut its cumulative net income by $92 million from a previously reported net income of $12 billion, said Dell spokesman Bob Pearson. The cumulative change to earnings per share was $0.03 from the previously reported $4.78, he said.Dell also reduced revenue by $359 million from the previously reported $196.2 billion for the restatement period, Pearson said.While it was carrying out its own probe of accounting problems during the quarter and under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),&#160;Dell faced delisting&#160;on the Nasdaq multiple times for failing to file earnings reports to the SEC on time. The&#160;SEC is still investigating Dell&#160;for certain periods prior to fiscal year 2006. Dell will continue to cooperate and work with the SEC on the investigation, Pearson said.Among a string of filings Tuesday, Dell said in a 10-Q/A filing for the quarter ended May 5, 2006, that it recognized the wrong amount of revenue from certain transactions or recognized revenue in the wrong period. In some cases, Dell prematurely recognized revenue before it settled the terms of sale with a customer, Dell said in the filing.Dell is trying to restructure amid the accounting scandal, personnel changes, and slow growth in the U.S. PC market. In January,&#160;Michael Dell returned as CEO&#160;after Kevin Rollins resigned in an effort to revive the company. In May, Dell announced it would cut 10 percent of its workforce. It is also battling Hewlett-Packard, which is closing in on Dell&#39;s position as the leading U.S. PC vendor, according to a recent IDC study.
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DALLAS -- Dell Inc. said Thursday that preliminary second-quarter earnings jumped 46 percent on stronger sales of enterprise products and services, improved average selling prices and favorable component costs.
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Dell Inc.'s fourth-quarter profits plunged 33 percent because of weak sales of laptops and notebooks, and the computer maker still faces an unresolved federal accounting probe, customer service complaints, several shareholder lawsuits and stiff competition from rivals.
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Computer giant Dell Inc.'s server sales rose in the third quarter, overtaking Sun Microsystems Inc. for the No. 3 position, according to a Gartner Inc. research report released Wednesday.
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Dell Inc. DELL.O, the world's  largest personal computer maker,  on Thursday posted a higher  quarterly profit, helped by market share gains and lower  component costs despite slowing demand for corporate PCs.
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A solid 2004 drives predictions for strong, but slower, growth in computer sales this year.
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SAN FRANCISCO - Dell is winning over Wall Street again - but some of its customers remain unhappy with the beleaguered PC giant. Dell on Thursday reported preliminary revenue of $14.8 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 3, up from $14.1 billion a year ago. The No. 2 PC maker also conceded that a shortage of laptop parts continues to prevent it from filling some orders.
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THE PC market in Asia is looking positive this year on the back of strong results in the fourth quarter of 2006.