Dell Revenue, Income Jump in 4Q

Dell Computer Corp. ended a strong fiscal year with a fourth quarter that saw income, revenue and shipments all jump at least 21 percent.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, the Round Rock, Texas, computer maker earned $603 million—a 32 percent increase over the same period last year—on more than $9.7 billion in revenue. That represented a 21 percent increase over the $8.06 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter last year.

The net income came after the company was assessed a $742 million charge related to job cuts and consolidation of facilities, the company said.

Dell also saw fourth-quarter shipments jump 25 percent, according to company officials.

In a prepared statement, Dell President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Rollins said that given the companys success in a difficult economic environment, “we have no intention to depart from a very successful strategy.”

Dell officials said the company, which saw a 28 percent increase in sales of its PowerEdge servers, was reaping the benefits of an industry shift away from expensive Unix platforms and toward Windows and Linux operating systems running on industry-standard servers.

Over the past year, Dell has aggressively expanded into areas outside of its core hardware business, including into personal digital assistants, printers and point-of-sale terminals.

Dell also started selling products via kiosks in malls, and earlier this year began a pilot program selling Dell products through Kiosks in 10 Austin, Texas-area Sears, Roebuck & Co. stores.

Dell officials said they expect the strong showing to continue into the current quarter, forecasting quarterly revenues of $9.5 billion.