Dell's Average PC Price Falls $50 In Three MonthsDell's Average PC Price Falls $50 In Three Months

Dell Computer (DELL--Nasdaq) rebounded from a money-losing second quarter to continue expanding its share of the market for PCs and servers in the third quarter ended Nov. 2. Company executives say they expect the number of units shipped to grow about 5% during the coming quarter, but that falling prices will result in only a slight increase in revenue and relatively flat earnings.

The average unit selling price dropped more than $50 during the quarter, to $1,800, says Kevin Rollins, Dell's president and chief operating officer. He doesn't expect that trend to reverse. For the quarter ended Nov. 2, Dell reported profit of $429 million on revenue of $7.5 billion, compared with a profit of $674 million on $8.3 billion in revenue last year. Desktop PCs represented 52% of sales, portable computers accounted for 29%, and enterprise systems for 19%.