Dell urges HP not to spin off PC business

The PC isn't dying off, according to Michael Dell - and HP is wrong to spin off its computer business.

The head of Dell told The Financial Times that HP shouldn't spin off its Personal Systems Group, because it will hurt the rest of its business.

“Think about the scale economies in our business," Dell told the FT. "As a company spins off its PC business, it goes from one of the top buyers in the world of disk drives and processors and memory chips to not being one of the top five. And that raises the cost of making servers and storage products."

He added: "Ultimately, we believe that presents an enormous opportunity for us and you can be sure we are going to seize it.”

Dell also rubbished claims that PCs are dying off, in favour of a "post-PC world" - suggested by Steve Jobs at the launch of the iPad 2.

“There are a billion and a half PCs in the world and while [analyst firm] Gartner changes its estimates here and there, it also estimates there will be two billion PCs in the world by 2014," Dell said. "So when I look at that, I think the idea that the PC is no longer here is complete nonsense."

While tablets and smartphones have the most momentum, he noted such gadgets aren't replacing PCs, and stressed Dell remained "committed to that part of the business".

That was echoed by Lenovo, which also "stressed its commitment to the PC industry", as manufacturers look to boost confidence following HP's decision to look into quitting the market.