Dell has cut prices in an effort to maintain sales growth

The Texan-based giant now expects profits for the first three months of 2006 to hit 33 cents per share on revenues of about $14.2bn (�7.6bn).

This compares with market expectations of 38 cents per share from $14.52bn.

Dell has cut prices to keep up sales growth, in response to competition from rivals such as Acer and Lenovo.

Its announcement pushed Dell shares down nearly 6% in electronic after-hours trading in New York.

Underwhelming

"Dell has been an underwhelming name in technology over the past year, and this is an indication that will probably continue," said Michael James, a senior trader at Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Dell's shares are now down more than 30% compared with a year ago.

According to market estimates, Dell's share of the global PC market fell from 18.6% to 18.1% during the first quarter of 2006.