Dell Inc.’s fourth-quarter profits plunged 33 percent because of weak sales of its notebook computers, Associated Press reports.
Mobility products sales, including laptops, fell 2 percent year-over-year despite a 2 percent increase in units shipped. Desktop PCs, meanwhile, saw an 18 percent decline, despite the launch of Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system.
Analysts say that Dell’s direct-sales model, allowing customers to buy equipment directly from the company, is no longer the best way to sell products, especially portable, personal devices like notebooks.
“Shifting tastes mean many consumers want to pick up and examine notebooks before they buy one. Just look at rivals like Apple and Hewlett-Packard, which during the same period saw robust sales of laptops because of good marketing and widespread retail availability,” analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies said.





