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Dell earns about 85 percent of its revenue from business customers, many in the United States, whereas HP has a stronger focus on consumers and international markets.

The geographic spread and a leap in notebook computer sales has helped to spur HP results and forecasts past Wall Street numbers on Monday, though

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its stock was barely changed on Tuesday in a market unnerved by credit concerns and weak retail spending.

HP is, "successful beyond almost anyone's expectations in personal computing," says J.P. Gownder, principal analyst at industry researcher Forrester Research. "Everything is clicking into place with HP."

Whereas Dell, he says, is "at a very early stage of its turnaround. There's a lot of work ahead."
The United States accounted for 56 percent of Dell's fiscal 2007 revenue, compared with just a third for HP in its just-completed quarter.

"Market growth continues to be led by a shift to mobility, consumer demand and emerging markets, which plays to our strengths," HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd says.

The credit crunch spreading from the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown may also hit Dell harder than HP, which said it did not have a significant exposure to financial services.