The Hindu Business Line : India, China to fuel growth in Asia-Pacific, says Dell

Chennai, Nov. 22 Dell, the world’s third largest personal computer maker, expects higher demand for its products in India and China will fuel the company’s growth in Asia-Pacific.

There is strong demand from large enterprises and small and medium size business (SMB) customers, according to a company official.

“We will soon see positive revenue in the region,” said Mr Steve Felice, Dell’s President of small-and-medium business.

In the third quarter ended October 31, Dell’s Asia-Pacific revenue declined by 8 per cent from a year earlier. However, there is a positive growth in the number of units sold in the region. Dell’s revenue could be over $2 billion in Asia, he said in a teleconference with newspersons from Singapore.

For the third quarter, Dell’s global revenue was $12.9 billion, a 1 per cent sequential improvement, and down 15 per cent from a year ago.

Dell, which has a manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, has increased its distribution capabilities in India, he said.

The combined sales in China, India, Brazil and Russia were up 18 per cent sequentially and 5 per cent over last year. In China, Dell’s second-largest country in terms of revenue, sales increased 20 per cent sequentially and 8 per cent year-over-year.

Perot integration

Mr Felice said Dell is integrating its business with Perot Systems and expects the integration to be completed in the first quarter of 2010.

Windows 7

PC sales for Dell picked up ‘quite substantially’ following the launch of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system on October 22.