Dell to axe 1,700 workers

Dell Computer is set to lay off 1,700 workers - the first time the US's leading PC seller has announced job losses.

Dell has also missed its revised fourth-quarter projections. The company said the redundancies would primarily effect workers in its Round Rock, Texas headquarters and in nearby Austin. The layoffs will be made in regular, full-time positions and concentrate in administration, marketing and product support areas. The layoff announcement, made prior to the quarterly results, is another example of "layering" the bad news on the part of Dell management. Only last week Dell had announced the shut-down of its online Marketplace, a venture only launched four months ago. Dell reported profits of $508m, or 18 cents a share, for its most recent quarter. Expectations had been for earnings of 19 cents a share according to a poll of analysts by First Call. In the same period last year, Dell posted profits of $436m, or 16 cents a share. Dell's turnover for the quarter was $8.7bn, compared with $6.8bn in the same period a year earlier. For full-year 2000, turnover reached $31.9bn, up from $25.3bn a year earlier, for an increase of 26 per cent. Earnings reached $2.3bn, or 84 cents a share, compared with $1.9bn, or 68 cents a share, in 1999. Rod Amis