Dell expects strong growth in Middle East

By Ola Galal

DUBAI (Reuters) - Dell (DELL.O), the world's second biggest computer maker, expects strong growth in the Middle East, as more companies and consumers demand high-end technology on the back of economic growth, a top official said on Sunday.

"We've been growing in excess of 35 percent for the last five to eight years both in revenues and number of unit sales in the commercial sector ... We don't see any reason why it shouldn't continue as such," Pim Dale, vice president and general manager of Dell Emerging Markets, told Reuters on the sidelines of an exhibition in Dubai.

"The Middle East is a success story on both fronts, the consumer and the commercial."

In the Middle East, Dell posted 55 percent growth in unit sales in the second quarter over the same period last year, according to company figures based on International Data Corporation information.

Dell, whose clients include Emirates Airlines EMAIR.UL, Saudi Basic Industries Corp (2010.SE), Aramco Oil and the United Arab Emirates' interior ministry, plans to open its first two stores in Dubai in the next few months, Dale said.

He added that the company expected more people in the Gulf would buy their second PCs, creating growth opportunities.

In September Chief Executive Michael Dell said the company's new push to sell in stores rather than just online would help it reach consumers in energy markets buying their first computer.

"Because there is no legacy in the region of old technologies, the region is grasping new technologies faster than anywhere else in the world," Dale said on Sunday.

Dell plans to invest "heavily" in this region, including on infrastructure, employees and marketing, Dale said.

The Middle East is among the top-three growth regions in the world on the consumer side, he said.

Dell said in September that slow demand had spread from the United States to Europe, and Asia and had not rebounded as expected after the summer lull.

Asked whether Dell expected growth in this region to offset a slowdown in other markets, Dale said: "Not necessarily. We have a global business, we are very successful in China and in Japan, we have a balanced business across the world."

Dale said Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, had "big potential" for growth.

(Reporting by Ola Galal, editing by Will Waterman)