UPDATE 3-Dell aims to outpace industry, sees uncertainty

* Dell expect to grow faster than the indsutry this year * Will continue to make acquisitions

(Adds quotes, details)

By Fang Yan and Helen Ding

SHANGHAI, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Dell (DELL.O), the world's second-biggest computer maker, expects to grow faster than the industry this year but its CEO added it is hard to say whether the global PC market will improve heading into the year-end.

While slashing jobs, the company, which made nine acquisitions in the past two years, will continue making buys as the industry consolidates, Michael Dell told a briefing for reporters on Wednesday.

In August, Dell, which trails Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) in the computer sector, posted a steep drop in second-quarter profit, as slow demand for PCs spread from the U.S. corporate sector to the public sector and small businesses, and to Europe and Asia.

PC demand did not rebound in September from the summer lull and Dell said he was not sure whether the situation would improve in the year-end holiday season.

"I don't know," he said. "It's hard to say."

But Dell added that his company was still performing well in unit shipments compared with the overall industry.

"For the first nine months of this year, according to IDC, Dell grew a few points faster than the overall industry for our unit growth. We expect for the full year, Dell will grow faster than the industry," he said.

In August, the company said it had cut 8,500 jobs out of a planned 8,900 headcount reduction, as it realigns its business to confront slowing demand.

It has basically finished its announced headcount cuts and has no additional announcements to make on that front, Dell told Wednesday's briefing.

CONSOLIDATION

The company, which has $10 billion cash on its balance sheet currently, will continue to make acquisitions to boost its technological capability and services, he said.

"We have already made about nine acquisitions in the past two years. I think you will see us continue to do that," he said.

"There is no question the industry is consolidating ... I think there will be a smaller number of survivors. We see Dell as not only surviving but thriving in this kind of environment."

In China and Hong Kong, Dell has seen 30 percent sales growth so far this year, in line with recent years, although that fast-growing market also poses uncertainties.

Alex Yung, Dell China vice president, told Reuters: "Honestly, how things will turn out next year is hard to say.

"We don't know what kind of policy the Chinese government will come up with. If they continue to encourage domestic consumption, we wouldn't be too worried," Yung said.

"And also if the Chinese banks are not pulled too far into global financial turmoil, we wouldn't be too worried."

Yung later told a presentation for reporters that the company was seeing a mixed performance in various sectors of the market in China, with a particularly heavy impact on demand from export-oriented small companies, which have been hurt by the global economic slowdown.

"The consumer segment is doing very well," he said.

"From the commercial side, we see continued good growth in the public sector, state-owned enterprises and also some of the global businesses that we have locally. We definitely see some challenges in the small and medium-sized businesses." (Editing by Edmund Klamann and Sharon Lindores)