Dell Says PC Prices May Rise

Dell Computer Chairman Michael Dell said that with some computer chips and other components in short supply, PC prices have leveled off and may soon be rising. “You haven’t heard a lot about $500 PCs lately. In a sense, that’s a good thing for our business,” Dell said at a trade show in New York. Dell, who founded what has become the largest U.S. seller of personal computers, also said that industrywide sales of PCs were up in the second quarter from the first, only the second time in eight years that has happened. Dell revenue shouldn’t be hurt by the collapse of “dot-com” companies, he added, and Dell’s financial gains from the sale of venture investments, including those in Internet start-ups, should continue to be strong. Dell shares fell $1.19 to close at $47.81 on Nasdaq.