Dell's announces 'weak' consumer sales

Dell reported a disappointingly small growth in its consumer business this week, although profits were still boosted by computer sales to the business sector.
Dell's profits were up on its last quarter, despite the minimal four per cent growth in sales to consumers.
"We're seeing weakness in consumer demand, and we'll continue to manage that," said Dell's Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden.
"We're improving profit in our consumer business, which is something we've been focused on."
Weakness in consumer market
Dell Inc reports that sales to large corporate customers were up 27 per cent in the same quarter, while public sector revenue was up 20 per cent and sales to medium-sized businesses were up 24 per cent.
Around 80 per cent of Dell's overall sales come from business customers, with many now refreshing old PCs and servers as they emerge from the recessionary cost-cutting and belt-tightening of the last few years.
As such, Dell's desktop PC sales were up 21 per cent and server sales were up 20 per cent.
CEO Michael Dell said in a statement: "Dell is growing in the right areas, and I'm very excited about our momentum."
Dell reaffirmed its forecast for full-year revenue growth of 14 per cent to 19 per cent.