EMC's $12 Billion 2001 Just A DreamEMC's $12 Billion 2001 Just A Dream

Storage leader EMC Corp. is warning that its second quarter will disappoint. In fact, the company's prediction that 2001 would be a $12 billion year looks increasingly improbable.

EMC says revenue for the quarter that ended June 30 should be about $2 billion, compared with $2.15 billion for the same quarter last year. Earnings per share are expected to be 4 to 6 cents, compared with 19 cents a year ago. The gross margin for the second quarter, which EMC will report July 18, is expected to be about 45%. A year ago, it was 57.9%.

The vendor admits that it's lowering prices to make sales. Meanwhile, Compaq, Hitachi Data Systems, and IBM continue to crash what used to be the storage party. An EMC spokesman says the company doesn't expect a turnaround any time soon. It doesn't look like the economy has $7.74 billion to give EMC in the next two quarters in order for it to report revenue of $12 billion.