Dell profit down 23 pct, sees stronger second half

Dell Inc.'s second-quarter profit was plunged 23 percent as the personal-computer industry's slump dragged on this summer.

Dell said it earned $472 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $12.76 billion. During the same period a year ago, the computer-industry giant earned $616 million, or 31 cents a share, on $16.4 billion in sales.

If current demand trends continue, we expect revenue for the second half of the year to be stronger than the first half, said Chief Executive Michael Dell.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast Dell to earn 22 cents a share on $12.6 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Overall, he results beat Wall Street's forecast, however, sending the shares up more than 6 percent.

Dell's shipments of consumer PCs increased 17 percent over last year, while revenue in that category was down 9 percent to $2.9 billion. PC makers have been slashing prices to preserve market share. Consumers also have been favoring little netbook laptops that generate lower profit margins for manufacturers.

Meanwhile, Dell's sales to corporations fell 32 percent from last year to $3.3 billion.

Sales of desktop PCs fell 33% in the quarter, while laptop sales dropped 21 percent.