Computing giant Dell has said it's preparing for a rocky ride in 2022 as the PC market continues to fluctuate.
The PC and laptop maker revealed it is expecting demand to continue booming throughout the year as companies and consumers alike still look to upgrade their hardware as the hybrid working revolution continues.
However issues such as a pandemic-ravaged supply chain and the ongoing global chip shortage may affect the company's ability to deliver as many devices as needed.
Dell results
The news came as Dell revealed its fourth quarter 2021 results, where it posted a net loss of $29 million, leading to a sharp fall in stock price.
However Dell did report a 16% rise in earnings based on the previous year, and the company said it also generated record revenue for its 2022 fiscal year, up 17% from a year ago to hit $101.2 billion.
This led company vice chairman and co-chief operating officer Jeff Clarke to call it "the best year in Dell Technologies history".
Dell's PC and laptop-focused Client Solutions Group saw fourth quarter revenues of $17.3 billion, up 26% year-over-year, with its Infrastructure Solutions Group (covering servers, data storage and other hardware) saw a 3% year-on-year rise to hit $9.2 billion.
"In FY22, widespread digital transformation continued to accelerate growth in technology spend, and we are encouraged by growing demand across our entire portfolio," noted Chuck Whitten, co-chief operating officer, Dell Technologies.
"We also made strategic progress across multi-cloud, edge, as-a-Service and telecom. We launched solutions in these spaces, engaged customers, and made investments to position Dell for future growth."
The quarter was Dell's first since re-separating from its VMware subsidiary, which was spun off again in November 2021. Although this means Dell could not count its former ally's returns, the company was able to add $10.3 billion in cash flow as a result of the move.
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