The company employed about 78,800 people at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, a headcount reduction of 9,400 from a year earlier. Dell officials declined to comment on any pending additional layoffs.

Dell may pursue additional cost-cutting opportunities if demand for products and services remains volatile, said Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden during the call.

The company will also selectively focus investments in higher-margin products, such as enterprise servers, storage and software, Dell said. It is also increasing its focus on cloud computing opportunities, such as online services from its Web site.

Dell also has aggressive plans to push Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 OS in enterprises. Hardware purchases may be delayed as customers wait for Windows 7, but in preparation for that OS, Dell is readying hardware that takes advantage of specific features planned for it, Dell said.

Server revenue for the quarter was $1.35 billion, down 16 percent year-over-year, while unit shipments declined 18 percent. Revenue from storage products increased by 7 percent to $692 million. Services revenue declined by 3 percent to $1.36 billion.