DELL-'Pain,what Pain? We don't see no stinkin' pain."<vbg>
Jorge:
In case you missed.
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"Dell is seeing no signs of pain," said Steven Singleton, technology analyst at Robert Van Securities. Singleton also pointed to strong sales of Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL) iMac computer, targeted at consumers. "The iMac has had faster sell-through than any other product," Singleton said.
Analysts also said encouraging reports by computer retailers have contributed to a rosier outlook. Leading computer and electronics retailer Best Buy Co. (BBY) reported stellar second-quarter results and the Street expects CompUSA (CPU) to report slightly better sales next week.
"My general sense is that business continues to get better gradually," said Salomon Smith Barney analyst Maureen McGrath. "There's no question that the unit demand is there, it's still going to be up double digits."
PC-related indexes have regained ground over the past several weeks, including the Goldman Sachs Computer Hardware Index, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the severely-damaged Disk Drive Index. Thursday, selected chip and disk-drive issues climbed despite a broad slump in technology shares. See Silicon Stocks
To be sure, the industry continues to battle the negative impact of weakening global economies on its revenue. However, analysts expect strength in North America and Europe to sustain profits.
"Although government and retail sales were strong in the third quarter and Christmas sales are expected to be strong, those numbers will of course be North America-centric," said Kumar.
cbs.marketwatch.com |
