Dell Technologies Inc beat Wall Street estimates for holiday-quarter revenue on Thursday, helped by demand for its desktops and notebooks as most offices continued to work remotely during the COVID-19 health crisis.

Revenue from its client solutions group, which includes desktop PCs, notebooks and tablets, was $13.8 billion, up 17% from a year earlier. The company said it had shipped a record 50.3 million units during 2020.

A global shift to remote work and learning early last year had spiked demand for remote workstation products that benefited computer hardware makers and cloud service providers alike.

Dell is in an advantaged position to capitalize on the projected mid-single digits growth in IT spending in 2021, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said.

Revenue from its data center business was $8.8 billion in the quarter, in line with a year earlier, while sales at VMware Inc was $3.3 billion. Dell plans to spin off its 81% stake in the software unit to help reduce debt.

Total revenue rose 9% to $26.1 billion in the three months ended Jan. 29, while analysts had estimated $24.5 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income attributable to the company rose to $1.2 billion from $408 million a year earlier, as it shaved off administrative costs by 19% in the quarter.

  - Reuters