1 March 2002 PC vendor Dell has said that it is on the look-out for big acquisitions in the storage and services sectors to help it boost annual revenues to more than $60 billion (€69.13bn).

Dell is notable for having grown almost entirely organically. But chief operating officer Kevin Rollins says that in order for the company to continuing growing at a speed that stockholders have become accustomed to, the company will need to consider some major acquisitions.

But at the same time, Rollins also said that Dell will pick its targets carefully. Rollins is mindful of the fact that up to 80% of acquisitions fail to achieve their original aims, he says.

The change of policy is driven by the realisation that the rate of growth in the PC market in forthcoming years will not match the helter-skelter growth rates achieved during the 1990s.

At the same time, founder Michael Dell said that Dell will not yet enter the market for handheld computers because he did not think that the sector would prove to be profitable for Dell. However, he did stress the potential for the introduction of third-generation mobile telephony to generate growth in the computer industry.

Michael Dell also expressed doubts about the wisdom of the proposed acquisition of Compaq by Hewlett-Packard (HP). He said that the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the deal – not to mention the mud-slinging between the son of HP co-founder William Hewlett and HP CEO Carly Fiorina – had benefited his company.