European PC sales healthy, says Dell

While PC vendors are continuing to enjoy mixed fortunes, the European market should not be affected as badly as the US, according to Paul Bell, European president at Dell.

While PC vendors are continuing to enjoy mixed fortunes, the European market should not be affected as badly as the US, according to Paul Bell, European president at Dell.

Bell said that in contrast to the US, many European companies are still increasing their IT expenditure, and predicted that the European PC market would grow by five per cent this year as a result.

He also said that he did not anticipate any further European job cuts at Dell, in the wake of the direct vendor's announcement in February of its first ever round of redundancies.

Earlier this month, Dell's chief executive, Michael Dell, said the company was confident of meeting its turnover and profit estimates for the first quarter.

"The current softness in industry demand and lower profit margins is not a secret," Dell said, adding that he remained confident that vendors and resellers would be able to gain market share as the year continued.

Andy Brown, a senior analyst at IDC, agreed with Dell's more positive long-term outlook.

"It will be very difficult for the rest of the year for the US, but Europe has not been hit nearly so hard. PCs are still in positive double-digit growth, while the demand for personal digital assistants will rocket," he said.

"Europe will also benefit from the cost cutting and reduction of overheads at major US vendors. It has made them leaner and more efficient to deal with. Europe must not see itself as a victim of the US economy - it can be one of the main benefactors from it," he added.

Also published in Computer Reseller News