Dell's 31 per cent profits dip highlights need to go private

Dell has posted a 31 per cent drop in quarterly profits, with the declines in its consumer business underlining the reasons behind Michael Dell's $24bn (£15.5bn) bid to take the company into private trading.

Mr Dell, along with the private equity group Silver Lake Capital and international software giant Microsoft, has offered $13.65 (£8.85) per share to take the business private in order to revive its flailing fortunes.

Although the offer has encountered resistance from some of the company's larger independent shareholders, the quarterly results, which showed that net income had slumped to $530m (£343.5m) from $764m (£495m) in its fourth quarter, highlighted the challenges faced by the business as it deals with the downturn in the market for PCs and growing competition from tablets and smartphones.