Dell plotting acquisitions amid slowdown

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 22 May 2009 at 10:35

Dell is plotting a series of acquisitions over the coming year, as the PC maker looks to buy back market share lost to rivals.

Speaking at the Global Technology Summit in New York, the president of Dell's enterprise business Steve Schuckenbrock said Dell was focused on winning back US customers after figures from IDC revealed its market share had slipped to 26% in the first quarter.

"I think we scaled back our attention to that over the last couple of years, particularly in the US," he told the conference. "We lost share in large customers and we're not going to do that again."

Although Schuckenbrock declined to comment on potential targets or specific business areas the company may be shopping in, he said Dell is interested in software and services.

"We're certainly buyers now and you should expect to see us in that mode," said Schuckenbrock, adding that there were attractive targets for all industry players.

Asked if low valuations meant Dell should pounce now rather than wait, he indicated that competition was a bigger motivator.

"I don't know that it's 'do it now' because of inflation of price. I don't think we're as concerned about that as we are that there's a lot of consolidation in the industry," he said.

PCs comprise around 60% of Dell's revenue, leaving it more exposed than HP to the global slowdown in PC sales brought on by economic weakness. HP overtook Dell as the PC market share leader in the US in the first quarter, according to IDC, boosted by strong demand for consumer notebooks.

HP is also the world's largest PC maker, with Dell ranking second.