Beleaguered data storage systems giant EMC is banking on a more aggressive sales push in China, along with expanded software and services programmes, to drive its return to profitability this year.
Chief technology officer Mark Lewis said the company had also stabilised pricing for hardware, breaking away from a vicious cycle of heavy price discounting against its competitors since 2000, when corporate technology spending began to slow worldwide.
'We are looking to generate more international sales by focusing on new markets, especially in Asia,' he said, noting that more than 50 per cent of company revenues still came from the sluggish North American market.
He said EMC was 'about 18 months ahead' in storage software management innovation, amid strong competition from storage specialist Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and computer-makers Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems.
EMC has been strengthening its ties to software makers such as Oracle and Microsoft at a time when more digital information is created, stored and managed by organisations using large database systems.
A recent report from research firm Gartner said: 'Despite its recent financial problems, workforce reductions and loss of market share, EMC remains a market-leading storage company, capable of competing aggressively.'