Upgrades to give Dell shot in arm

AUSTIN, Texas: Dell's finance chief expects strong corporate IT hardware upgrades starting from the middle of next year at the earliest to boost profitability for the No 2 PC maker.

In an interview with Reuters, Brian Gladden stressed the difficulty of trying to predict when the so-called corporate replacement cycle will truly resume, given the uncertainty around the economy and demand.

Companies have put off upgrading aging equipment for multiple quarters, he said, adding that the upcoming release of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will play a role in the refresh, but not the driving factor.