Dell strikes back with improved PC shipments in Q2
Preliminary second-quarter figures show 3.5 per cent increase in sales on Q1
Despite a rough month in the media, Dell has managed to defy sluggish second-quarter market conditions to ship more PCs than it did in Q1.
According to preliminary Q2 market figures from analyst iSuppli, Dell managed to sell 9.96 million units, up by 3.5 per cent compared with Q1’s 9.6 million. However, the strong performance in units shipped contrasted sharply with Dell’s 51 per cent drop in Q2 earnings and an announcement that regulators were planning to investigate its accounting practices.
Dell is still dealing with the financial fall-out of having to recall 4.1 million notebook batteries because of numerous reported incidents of overheating and bursting into flames.
Matthew Wilkins, senior analyst at iSuppli, said: “In July, Dell warned partners that its earnings and revenue would fall short of Wall Street’s expectations, blaming aggressive pricing. The news sent Dell’s stock down by 13 per cent. But while the rock-bottom pricing may have been bad for Dell’s bottom line, it was good for its market share because consumers snapped up its inexpensive PCs.
“On a year-on-year basis, Dell increased its unit shipments by 14.3 per cent, up from 8.7 million in the Q2 2005. This exceeded the overall year-on-year market growth of 7.5 per cent.”
Dell will have another cause to celebrate this month as environmental group Greenpeace announced that it was the only PC maker to bag a ‘respectable’ rating on its green scorecard. Based on the use of toxic chemicals and published electronic waste policies, the scorecard showed that only Dell and Nokia deserved a ‘respectable’ rank, while Apple and Lenovo came ‘bottom of the class’.
Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner, said: “It is disappointing to see Apple ranking so low in the guide. It is meant to be a world leader in design and marketing, so it should also be a world leader in environmental innovation.”
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