Dell hit by weak consumer demand, profits down 63%

Dell, which is the world’s second biggest maker of PCs, has reported a fall in profits of 63% to $290 million (£182 million) in the three months to 1 May, compared with $784 million a year ago.

Revenue were down 23% during the three month period to $12.3 billion - however, this was marginally better than analysts expectations.

The company has been hit by the slump in demand for PCs, but the company added that its “largest global customers have been most conservative with their IT budgets“.

According to the company, the global trading environment remained “challenging”.

As a result of the slump in demand and falling sales, the company has slashed costs by reducing global headcount by over 9,000 in the last 12 months.

While it hasn’t ruled out any further job cuts, it said it is continuing with its cost-cutting programme.

The news comes just a week after Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world’s biggest maker of PCs and printers, reported a fall of 17% in quarterly profit as a result of weak consumer demand.

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