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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (165083)	5/3/2001 1:01:11 PM
From: calgal	Respond to of 176388

From AOL: Dell sees ruthless cost-cutting, including layoffs By Nicole Volpe NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Dell Computer Corp. <DELL.O>, which recently became the world's No. 1 computer maker, will be ruthless in managing costs and foresees layoffs in its drive to grab market share from its rivals, a senior executive said on Thursday. "We will be ruthless in how we address our cost structure going forward," Tom Meredith, Dell senior vice president of business development and strategy, said at the Merrill Lynch Hardware Technology conference here. Meredith pointed to cost controls and aggressive pricing as the strategy with which Dell was able to take market share from rival Compaq Computer Corp <CPQ.N> . Dell took the No. 1 spot in the personal computer market from Compaq in the first quarter of this year. Asked if layoffs would be part of that ruthless cost-cutting, he said, "Absolutely." Earlier this week, Dell declined to comment on growing speculation that it was planning a new round of layoffs. In February, Dell announced its first-ever large-scale layoffs, cutting 1,700 jobs, or 4 percent of its workforce. Dell Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Dell was quoted in Time magazine last month as saying the company "screwed up" by overhiring, adding that the February decision to cut jobs is a lesson that "when things heat up quite a bit, we should take some pause." Meredith said he believed that industry levels across the PC industry built up in March vs. February, especially at retailers and distributors. It went to 29 days from the mid-20s, he said. "It's higher than people think it is," Meredith said. Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Fortuna said he was not concerned about PC inventory levels, saying they have remained at about 25 days for the past few quarters. Meredith reiterated guidance given by the company last month that Europe was "starting to flourish" for Dell and that there were pockets of strength in Asia. Meredith declined to comment on results for Dell's fiscal first quarter which ends tomorrow. Dell stock was off 73 cents, or nearly 3 percent, at $26 in early trading on Nasdaq. 12:34 05-03-01 Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.