Dell Technologies Inc, the manufacturer and marketer of digital technology products and systems, reported small declines in revenue for its fiscal second quarter and first half ended July 31.

Nonetheless, executives said they felt encouraged by the way businesses are stepping up their investments in digital transformation projects as the pandemic continues to lead to work-at-home and study-at-home practices that use the digital technology products, systems and services Dell sells.

Jeff Clarke, vice chairman, chief operating officer, Dell Technologies Inc.

“What we know from our conversations with customers is technology has never been more important,” Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer, said on a conference call with stock analysts last week, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “Similar to what we saw in Q1, customers’ top digital priorities are enabling learn- and work-from-home and creating automation and agility across IT for consistency and resiliency of operations.”

Dell adds that its ecommerce channels are playing a critical role in connecting with customers to meet their needs for digital technology products and services. The company, though a pioneer of ecommerce on Dell.com and other online venues, doesn’t break out ecommerce sales.

Ecommerce helps engage customers

But it says its ecommerce model has helped it to respond expediently to the pressures brought by the pandemic to establishing alternate work environments.

“Our close relationships and ability to connect directly with our customers through our ecommerce business have enabled us to quickly meet the immediate demands of the new work- and learn-from-home environments,” Dell said in its most recent quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for the fiscal 2021 first quarter ended May 1, 2020.

“Businesses are taking this opportunity to reinvent their models for a more connected, digital, automated, data-intensive and distributed future,” Clarke said on the conference call, adding, “Emerging technologies around widespread connectivity with 5G, data-driven insights at the edge and expanding workloads in a hybrid cloud future will each create opportunities for long-term growth and value creations at Dell.”

For the fiscal second quarter ended July 31, Dell Technologies reported:

• Net revenue declined year over year by 3% to $22.73 billion.
• Net income fell year over year by 74% to $1.10 billion.

For the six months ended July 31, Dell Technologies reported:

• Net revenue to dipped by 1% year over year to $44.63 billion.
• Net income fell 72% to $1.28 billion.

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