Computer maker Dell said its quarterly profit fell by 47% after it was hit by falling sales to both consumers and businesses.
The US group reported a net profit of $475m in the three months from July to September, compared with $893m a year earlier.
The company, the world's third-largest maker of personal computers, saw overall revenues dip 11%.
It said its consumer revenues fell 23% to $2.5 billion, while those from sales to big corporations declined by 8% to $4.2 billion.
But Dell said it was more confident about the October to December period, which includes the key Christmas period for sales.
It said it expects group-wide revenues to rise by as much as 5% in the last three months of the year, despite the continuing "challenging" global economic environment.
Dell noted that the recent launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 product was improving demand in the consumer market.
