Age catches up with all young speedsters. Computer maker Dell, which will report full-year results on Thursday, used to beat the competition through superior logistics. However, unable to outpace the pack any more, its long-declining share price has prompted an existential crisis and experiments beyond the main business of selling built-to-order computing kit direct to customers. Back under the leadership of founder Michael Dell since the start of 2007, the group has begun to sell through other retailers with mixed success. There are also ambitions to double revenues from IT services – currently a 10th of Dell’s sales – by bringing more automation and efficiency to a consultant-based market. The release of a Dell-made smartphone has also long been rumoured.

Investors should not rest too much hope on any of these opportunities, though. IT services is notoriously cyclical and competitive, a market that low-cost Indian companies such as Tata Consulting Services and Infosys have been pushing into for years, with greatest success to date in the area of offshore outsourcing. And, in spite of the smartphone hype, the conspicuous scarcity of handsets using Google’s free Android software on show last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona points to the difficulty of entering an increasingly crowded market.