Dell Inc. to cut more jobs than earlier announced

Michael Dell continues his efforts to cut costs in a bid to regain Dell's once dominant position in the personal computers market, which it had recently lost to Hewlett-Packard. On Thursday, chief executive Dell said that the company intends to cut more jobs than the 8800 initially announced, and had already eliminated 5500 positions.

He was speaking to analysts at Dell headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, and said that he company will end the current year with lower operating expenses than in the previous year. He said that many more such cost-saving measures were in the offing, and that ''every area of the company is being pursued'' for that purpose.

As late as Monday, Dell had announced that it planned to reduce annual expenses by $3 billion annually by 2011, and it had already reduced its workforce by 3200 employees.

Michael Dell had founded the eponymous Dell Inc. in his college dormitory and then guided it to the top position as a seller of computers with its innovative ''direct selling'' methodology. He had voluntarily stepped down as CEO in 2004 to be replaced by then president and COO Kevin Rollins.

Plagued by sagging sales and US Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, the company board requested Michael Dell to return to the helm of company affairs in 2007. After his reappointment, he has been quite aggressive in driving down costs in a bid to increase margins and regain lost market share.