Hassouna Al Tayeb (Abu Dhabi)
HP disappointed expectations for its quarterly sales, prompting it to reduce the size of its annual profits, given the noticeable decline in demand for personal computers and printers, especially among consumers.
The American multinational information technology company, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, also announced a decline in its annual revenue for the third quarter, by 4.1% to $ 14.7 billion, at a time when analysts expect revenues of regarding $ 15.6 billion. Sales in the PC division fell 20%, driven by weak demand for laptops.
The American company reduced its expectations for annual earnings per share, to between 4.02 to 4.12 dollars per share, with the exception of some devices whose earnings are likely to range between 4.24 and 4.38 dollars per share, while analysts’ estimates went to an average of 4.30 dollars per share, according to data Featured on Bloomberg Agency.
“Like other companies, our revenues were affected by weak consumer demand, a trend that is expected to continue until the last quarter of this year, and perhaps for the first two quarters of next year,” said CEO Enrique Loris.
Revenues for the personal systems division, including personal computers, fell 3% to $10.1 billion during the period ended July 31. While consumer sales declined, commercial sales rose by 7%. Device shipments fell 25%, with personal computers accounting for the largest share at 32%.
Although the rebound in commercial PC sales has been a buffer once morest the decline of its personal counterparts over the past few months, it has begun to decline as well.
The demand for personal computers, which witnessed a significant recovery at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, deteriorated, but it took the path of decline, with the reopening of schools and the decline in economic sentiment. Exports of these devices fell by regarding 13% between April and June, the worst quarter in more than 9 years. Printer revenue for the quarter fell 6% to $4.6 billion, impacted by supply chain disruptions and backlogs.
