Dell official: econ downturn to hit computer demand

BANGALORE, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Dell (DELL.O), the world's second-biggest computer maker, expects softness in demand for personal computers due to the global economic downturn, but hopes to increase market share in emerging markets such as India, a senior official said on Thursday.

"We are extremely bullish on India," Chief Marketing Officer Mark Jarvis told reporters.

Dell, which trails Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) in the computer sector, said last month that slow demand had spread from the United States to Europe and Asia, and had not rebounded as expected after the summer lull.

In August, it posted a steep drop in second-quarter profit, saying that companies were becoming more conservative in spending.

But Chief Executive Michael Dell said on Wednesday the company was performing well in unit shipments compared with the overall industry, and expected to grow faster than the industry this year. [ID:nSHA201089] (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by John Mair)