Dell revenue up 9% thanks to storage revenue, business laptops

Dell reported record revenue of $26.4 billion in Q2, but growth was slow. The growth drivers were Client Solutions Group (CSG) and Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG).
Dell Technologies at MWC 2017Dell’s revenue growth in the second quarter at 9 percent was the slowest in more than one and a half years as the company also took a hit from a surge in the dollar and COVID-19 flare-ups in China – its second-largest market.

The stronger dollar has pressured earnings of technology companies from Microsoft to Apple, and will likely continue to be a headache as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.

Dell’s Client Solutions Group delivered 9 percent growth in second quarter for a record revenue of $15.5 billion.

Dell’s Consumer revenue declined 9 percent to $3.3 billion. Dell’s commercial business rose 15 percent to $12.1 billion as it gained from businesses placing orders to gear up the hybrid-work era.

Dell’s Infrastructure solutions group, home to the company’s storage business, grew 12 percent to $9.5 billion. Dell’s storage revenue rose 6 percent to $4.3 billion thanks to demand in high-end storage and mid-range product PowerStore, which has now grown every quarter since its launch. Servers and networking revenue increased 16 percent to $5.2 billion.

Industry majors from Intel to Lenovo Group have warned of a slump in the personal computer market after a two-year boom during the pandemic, with research firm Gartner estimating shipments would drop 9.5 percent in 2022.

“There’s caution around future hiring, trade-offs within their IT budgets given the macroeconomic uncertainty, customers reducing the size of orders and buying for only immediate requirements,” Dell co-Chief Operating Officer Chuck Whitten said on a post-earnings call.

Dell Technologies said it expects revenue between $23.8 billion and $25 billion during the third quarter of 2022.