Dell shares plummet 18%
Company seen sandwiched between Apple and low-cost players.
Dell shares [NAS:DELL] were down more than 18% in late Nasdaq trading, wiping $US4.7 billion from its market cap.
It was the company's worst intra-day decline since the dotcom crash of 2000.
The plunge is blamed on a disappointing first quarter that saw the PC maker's revenue drop 4% on the year-ago quarter to $US14.42 billion.
Net profit fell by a third to $US635 million from the year-ago quarter's $US945 million.
Dell's revenue dip raised general fears that tech spending could be slowing, putting pressure on other blue chip techs like HP (down around 4%), Microsoft (down 2.8%) and IBM (down 1%).
But pundits also see Dell facing strategic challenges.
The company has broadened beyond its traditional PC base into areas such as storage and IT services.
However its core computer business is seen as sandwiched between China's Lenovo, which is rapidly gaining share at the budget end of the market, and Apple, which is gaining ground with its premium price desktops and laptops, and shifting spending from PCs to tablets.
NBR staff
Thu, 24 May 2012
Thu, 24 May 2012
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Dell shares plummet 18%
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