Dell a Different Business From 5 Years Ago: CEO

AP

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Dell is not the company it was five years ago, having moved from personal computers into servers, storage and data centers, Chief Executive Michael Dell told CNBC Wednesday.

Michael Dell said his message to Wall Street is simple: Dell is "now really an enterprise solutions" company.

"You look at the significant progress we made in the next-generation data center, information data protection, the whole security and services area of our business and look at the results," the CEO said. "Our earnings per share are up 100 percent in the last 12 months. This is a different company than it was five years ago."

Acquisitions of "critical intellectual property" have been important, he said, as has investing $1 billion for internal growth and innovation.

Dell was interviewed from Austin, Texas, before his company's annual investor meeting today.

During the meeting, Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said the company is being "selective and patient as we think about our acquisition strategy, and we think we can deliver strong returns on the deals that we do."

Michael Dell said he has not seen any dramatic change in overall demand from its broad range of customers, except possibly from the very smallest.

"We’re in the business of productivity. Businesses want productivity. Institutions want productivity. The only way to get that is with information technology," he said. "I'm feeling very good about our business."

However, questions on the future of the PC remain. Asked about the popularity of tablet computers, he noted there are "a billion and a half PCs in the world today" compared with 50 million or so tablets.

"Certainly we’re going to create tablets but the perspective of what the size of the markets are today tells a different story of where one really wants to focus," Michael Dell said. "We see tablets as a third device, not as a replacement" for personal computers or smartphones.

-Reuters contributed to this report.