Dell Inc chief executive Kevin Rollins said on Thursday the company will continue to expand beyond traditional desktop PCs and offer more flat-panel televisions, laptops and printers to help grow its business to US$80 billion within four years.
"As we've diversified, the PC unit volumes are less indicative of the way our company will perform," Rollins said during Dell's annual meeting with analysts. "While we're still interested in PC growth, it's not going to be the predictor it once was."
His comments came a day after Dell reaffirmed its first-quarter earnings guidance of US$0.37 per share on sales of US$13.4 billion issued Feb. 10, in line with analysts surveyed so far by Thomson First Call. Dell releases earnings for the February-April period after markets close on May 12.
Round Rock, Texas-based Dell predicted that revenue will grow from US$49 billion to US$80 billion over the next three to four years.
After nearly hitting US$50 billion in sales last year, the company raised its goal from US$60 billion to US$80 billion in annual revenue.
Dell has strengthened its industry-leading position in PC sales by reducing costs and undercutting rivals on price.
Rollins said the company's increasing push into servers, data-storage equipment, printers, consumer electronics and technology services will help offset cooling desktop PC demand. According to IDC, PC shipments are expected to grow by a more moderate 10 percent this year.
"It's clear to us that things are a bit slower, even a bit slower than we had thought, but it's nothing that we're lighting our hair on fire," he said. "It still is moving at a very healthy pace."
Rollins said Dell has maintained profitability in a turbulent industry that has seen executive shake-ups at Hewlett-Packard Co and the recent purchase of IBM Corp's personal computing division by Lenovo, China's top computer maker.
Analysts welcomed the diversification talk in the face of rivals HP and IBM.
"It's a scale issue. What they're really saying is that they are going to be able to scale to the level of an IBM or an HP," Ron Silliman of Gartner said. "Dell is going into that scale more focused but also talking diversification. This organization is probably the most rigorous in the industry on the question of execution."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source