Dell: revenue up on notebook sales in Q1

Dell has reported fiscal first quarter revenue of $16 billion, a 9 percent year-over-year increase. While net earnings of $0.38 cents per share represent a 12 percent increase, operating income was down 4 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. In a statement, Dell officials said that the results were driven by "better-than-industry growth of commercial and consumer products and services, and lower operating expense as a percent of revenue." Specifically, notebook sales skyrocketed 43 percent, a rate Dell says is 1.2 times the industry average. The consumer segment was also especially strong, with Dell claiming to grow global share of this market by 1.2 points to 8.8 percent during the quarter.

The company was also able to boost profits by reducing its headcount by 7,000 in the past year, including a reduction of about 3,700 in the first quarter. Operating expenses were 12.9 percent of revenue for the quarter, while cash flow from operations was $143 million and impacted by lower payables and tax and bonus payments.

With regard to outlook, Dell says it will continue to incur costs as it "realigns its business to improve competitiveness, reduce headcount and invest in infrastructure and acquisitions." The company is seeing possible downturns in IT spending in the U.S., but improving performance in areas like emerging countries, notebooks, enterprise and services.

Product shipments in the quarter increased 22 percent, with servers growing three times the industry rate at 21 percent. Storage revenue increased 15 percent and enhanced services revenue was up 13 percent.

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Other story tags: Dell, notebooks, market, sales, earnings, first quarter, results, call