Computer manufacturer Dell has blamed the economic slump for its customers choosing to delay making big purchases, which has resulted in a fall in its quarterly profits.
The US-based company reported a net profit of $475 million for the quarter July to September – 47 percent down compared to $893m recorded for the same quarter last year.
The company took a hit on its consumer revenues which fell by 23 percent to $2.5bn and sales to big corporations fell by eight percent to $4.2bn.
Dell is the world’s third largest manufacturer of personal computers and also reported an 11 percent fall in its revenues.
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However, with Christmas fast approaching the company is more optimistic about the figures for the current October to December period and expects group-wide revenues to rise by as much as five percent for the last quarter of 2012.
The global economic outlook is not the only reason the company has cited for the large dent in its sales. It is also suffering at the hands of its Asian rivals, who have moved their focus to the business customer rather than consumers.
Dell's chief financial officer Brian Gladden said: "It's not clear what's going to cause them to increase their spending in the short term, given the uncertainty in the economy." He added that the launch of Windows 8 was improving demand in the consumer market.
