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Dell Technologies is the stronger overall business on the latest reported evidence. Its Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) generated $31.782 billion in the quarter ended July 31, 2026, with AI-optimized servers, traditional servers and networking, and storage. Its Client Solutions Group (CSG) added $15.034 billion from PCs, workstations, peripherals and services. HP Inc. remains a substantial PC company: Personal Systems revenue was $11.767 billion and grew 18.5% year over year, but PC unit volume fell 15.8% and its reported Personal Systems operating margin was 4.6%. The comparison needs a qualification: HP Inc.’s filings organize the company around Personal Systems and Printing, not a Dell-style server, networking and storage segment. That makes Dell’s enterprise advantage clear, while the PC contest is closer and depends on whether you prioritize revenue growth, unit demand or segment profitability.
At a glance
| Name | Best for | Key spec | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Dell Technologies | Organizations that need PCs plus servers, networking, storage and AI infrastructure | Q2 FY2027: $31.782B ISG revenue; $15.034B CSG revenue; 15.0% ISG margin; 7.6% CSG margin | Nov 2026 |
| 2. HP Inc. | PC-focused businesses, with printing as a major second segment | Q3 FY2026: $11.767B Personal Systems revenue; 18.5% year-over-year growth; 4.6% Personal Systems margin | Nov 2026 |
The table uses each company’s latest quarterly filing covering the three months ended July 31, 2026. Dell calls that period its fiscal 2027 second quarter; HP Inc. calls it fiscal 2026 third quarter. “Best for” describes the business portfolio shown in those filings, not a recommendation of a particular computer model.
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What does “stronger” mean in this comparison?
There is no single metric that settles a Dell-versus-HP business comparison. A useful answer combines four tests: total and segment scale, the direction of PC revenue and units, operating margins, and the breadth of enterprise hardware. Those tests also prevent a common mistake—treating HP’s highly profitable printing business as if it were equivalent to Dell’s infrastructure operation.
- Scale: How much revenue does each relevant segment produce, and how much of the business is exposed to enterprise infrastructure?
- PC momentum: Is revenue growth coming from more units, higher prices, a richer mix, or a combination?
- Profitability: What operating margin did the company report for the relevant segment, and how comparable are the segment definitions?
- Portfolio breadth: Does the filing show servers, networking and storage alongside PCs, or is the reported portfolio concentrated elsewhere?
The underlying figures come from Dell Technologies’ July 31, 2026 Form 10-Q and HP Inc.’s July 31, 2026 Form 10-Q.
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How large were Dell and HP in the latest quarter?
Dell’s reported infrastructure operation was several times the size of HP Inc.’s reported PC operation in the July quarter. That does not mean Dell sells several times as many PCs; it means the companies are reporting different mixes of businesses.
| Company and period | PC-related segment revenue | Infrastructure or other major segment revenue | Reported operating margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dell Technologies, three months ended July 31, 2026 (fiscal Q2 2027) | CSG: $15.034B | ISG: $31.782B | CSG 7.6%; ISG 15.0% |
| HP Inc., three months ended July 31, 2026 (fiscal Q3 2026) | Personal Systems: $11.767B | Printing: $3.912B; no separately reported Dell-style infrastructure segment | Personal Systems 4.6%; Printing 18.1% |
Dell reported consolidated revenue of $46.971 billion for the quarter. CSG includes branded notebooks, desktops and workstations, as well as branded peripherals and services, so its figure is broader than PC shipments alone. ISG covers infrastructure products and services rather than consumer or business PCs.
HP Inc. reported $11.767 billion from Personal Systems and $3.912 billion from Printing. Personal Systems includes desktops, notebooks, workstations, thin clients, point-of-sale systems, displays and related services. Printing includes home and office printers, supplies, commercial and industrial graphics, and 3D printing. HP’s filing does not present a server, networking and storage segment that can be lined up directly with Dell ISG.
Which company has the stronger PC business?
On the latest quarter, Dell has the better combination of PC-segment growth and reported operating margin, while HP shows the more striking revenue growth rate but a decline in unit volume. The conclusion is therefore stronger for Dell on profitability and commercial momentum, not an assertion that Dell led every shipment measure.
Dell’s CSG growth was tied to commercial demand
Dell said CSG revenue increased 20% year over year in the quarter, primarily because of strength in commercial offerings. CSG operating margin rose 120 basis points to 7.6%. The filing does not reduce that result to a unit-shipment claim; CSG includes workstations, peripherals and services in addition to notebooks and desktops.
For a business buyer, the commercial emphasis matters because corporate refresh cycles, workstation demand and attached services can produce a different revenue and margin profile from consumer PC sales. It also means CSG’s 20% growth should not be read as a pure measure of PC unit growth.
HP’s Personal Systems revenue grew while units fell
HP Personal Systems revenue rose 18.5% year over year, but HP reported a 15.8% decrease in PC unit volume. The company attributed much of the revenue increase to higher average selling prices, including pricing actions and mix shifts. In practical terms, customers bought fewer units, while the average value of the units sold increased.
That divergence is important when judging strength. Revenue growth can be positive even when demand measured by units is contracting, but the two trends imply different questions about future volume, affordability and replacement timing. HP’s 4.6% Personal Systems operating margin was below Dell’s 7.6% CSG margin for the quarter, although the segments do not have identical boundaries.
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Why the PC margin comparison is useful but not perfect
Both companies report a PC-centered segment, yet each includes different adjacent products and services. Dell CSG includes branded peripherals and services; HP Personal Systems includes displays, thin clients, point-of-sale systems and related services. Their 7.6% and 4.6% margins are therefore reported segment figures, not a controlled comparison of identical product baskets.
Even with that limitation, the direction is informative: Dell’s CSG margin improved by 120 basis points, while HP’s Personal Systems margin was 4.6% in the period. A reader should treat Dell as having the stronger current PC-segment profitability on the evidence available, while recognizing that pricing, product mix, currency and cost structures can move margins from quarter to quarter.
Why is Dell much stronger in enterprise hardware?
Dell’s advantage is clearest in the breadth and scale of its reported ISG portfolio. For the July 31, 2026 quarter, Dell disclosed $16.401 billion in AI-optimized server revenue, $10.531 billion in traditional servers and networking revenue, and $4.850 billion in storage revenue.
| Dell ISG category | Revenue in quarter ended July 31, 2026 | What it represents in the filing |
|---|---|---|
| AI-optimized servers | $16.401B | Servers designed for AI-oriented workloads |
| Traditional servers and networking | $10.531B | Conventional server systems and networking products |
| Storage | $4.850B | Primary, unstructured and data-protection storage offerings across multiple architectures |
Those categories add to Dell’s $31.782 billion ISG revenue for the quarter. Dell’s annual report describes storage across primary, unstructured and data-protection use cases and multiple architectures. This is not just a list of product names: it shows a reported business that can address compute, network connectivity and data storage in one infrastructure portfolio.
Dell’s chief operating officer and vice chairman Jeff Clarke said in the company’s February 26, 2026 fiscal-year results release that “The AI opportunity is transforming our company.” That is management’s characterization, not independent proof that Dell’s products are superior. The supporting evidence for Dell’s enterprise strength is the scale and category detail in the ISG filing.
Does HP Inc. have an equivalent enterprise infrastructure segment?
Not in its current reported segment structure. HP Inc.’s filings identify Personal Systems, Printing and Corporate Investments; they do not list a Dell-style segment combining servers, networking and storage. That is a reporting difference, not proof that HP has no enterprise customers, business services or products used by organizations.
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HP’s Personal Systems portfolio does include business-oriented categories such as workstations, thin clients, point-of-sale systems, displays and related services. Those products can be important to enterprise buyers, but they are not the same as a full infrastructure stack of AI servers, traditional servers, networking and storage. HP’s Printing segment also serves commercial customers, yet printers, supplies and industrial graphics should not be counted as a substitute for data-center infrastructure.
Accordingly, Dell wins the enterprise-hardware breadth test on the available filings. The comparison is uneven because one company reports a large infrastructure segment and the other does not report a directly comparable one.
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What does the annual scale tell us?
Dell’s fiscal 2026 annual report provides a second view of scale. For the fiscal year ended January 30, 2026, Dell reported $113.5 billion in total revenue, including $60.8 billion from ISG and $51.0 billion from CSG. Those figures cover a different period from the July 2026 quarter and should not be added to or substituted for the quarterly numbers.
The annual split reinforces the same structural point as the latest quarter: Dell is not simply a PC vendor with a small server sideline. ISG was larger than CSG for the fiscal year, and both were major businesses. Dell’s annual filing also provides context for why a quarterly surge in AI-optimized servers matters to the company’s overall mix.
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How should you interpret the operating margins?
Dell reported a 15.0% ISG operating margin and a 7.6% CSG operating margin for the July quarter. HP reported a 4.6% Personal Systems margin and an 18.1% Printing margin. The figures show why the business mix matters: HP Printing was highly profitable in the period, but its economics are not a proxy for servers, networking or storage.
For the PC question, Dell CSG’s 7.6% margin was higher than HP Personal Systems’ 4.6%. For the enterprise question, Dell ISG’s 15.0% margin indicates that its infrastructure business was both large and profitable in the reported quarter. It would be misleading to compare Dell ISG’s 15.0% directly with HP Printing’s 18.1% and call the latter an enterprise-infrastructure lead; the segments serve different markets and contain different products.
Margins also need a time-series reading. A single quarter can reflect component costs, pricing actions, mix, foreign exchange, warranty expenses and timing of large projects. Use the figures as evidence of the current reported position, not as a permanent ranking.
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Which company is stronger for different business decisions?
The overall answer favors Dell, but the practical choice depends on what “business” means for the reader.
If you need a broad data-center and workplace supplier
Dell is the clearer fit at the company-portfolio level. Its filing shows AI-optimized servers, traditional servers and networking, storage, and a sizable PC operation. That breadth can simplify a procurement discussion when the requirement spans end-user devices and data-center infrastructure, although a real purchase decision still requires product, support, compatibility and pricing checks that are outside this financial comparison.
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If your analysis is primarily about PCs
Dell has the stronger reported combination in this quarter: CSG revenue grew 20% and its operating margin was 7.6%. HP’s Personal Systems revenue growth was 18.5%, but units declined 15.8% and the segment margin was 4.6%. HP can still be a significant PC competitor, especially where its product mix or channel strategy suits the buyer, but the filing evidence does not give it the profitability edge in this period.
If printing is central to the business
HP has the more directly relevant reported operation. Printing generated $3.912 billion with an 18.1% operating margin in the quarter, and HP’s portfolio includes home, office, commercial and industrial graphics, supplies and 3D printing. Dell’s ISG and CSG disclosures do not present a comparable printing segment, so a printing-focused decision falls outside the core Dell-versus-HP infrastructure verdict.
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Dell offers the clearer disclosed exposure to enterprise infrastructure and AI-server demand. HP offers a more concentrated combination of Personal Systems and Printing. This article is a business comparison, not investment advice; analysts should read the full filings, cash-flow disclosures, risk factors and subsequent results before making an investment decision.
What are the main limitations of the comparison?
Three limitations should stay visible whenever these companies are compared.
- Different segment definitions: Dell’s ISG has no direct HP Inc. counterpart in the cited filings. Dell CSG and HP Personal Systems are both PC-related but include different adjacent products and services.
- Different fiscal labels: The quarters end on the same date, July 31, 2026, but Dell labels it fiscal Q2 2027 and HP labels it fiscal Q3 2026. Annual figures cover different fiscal-year periods and must be labeled.
- Revenue is not the same as unit demand: HP’s 18.5% Personal Systems revenue growth occurred alongside a 15.8% unit decline, showing how price and mix can change the interpretation.
The consulted filings and results release also do not provide a named independent market-share statistic suitable for settling which company ships more PCs. It is better to leave that question open than to insert an unsourced shipment ranking.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How were Dell and HP ranked?
The ranking uses the evidence available for this exact business comparison:
- Latest quarterly segment revenue for PCs and infrastructure, using the periods ended July 31, 2026.
- PC revenue growth and unit trends, so price and mix effects are not mistaken for demand growth.
- Reported segment operating margins, presented with a warning that the definitions differ.
- Enterprise hardware breadth, especially whether the company reports AI servers, traditional servers, networking and storage.
- Annual scale context from Dell’s fiscal 2026 report, without mixing annual and quarterly periods.
Those criteria put Dell first overall because it combines a large PC operation with a much larger, clearly disclosed infrastructure business. HP ranks second overall but remains a material PC company with a distinct printing strength and strong Personal Systems revenue growth in the latest quarter.
What should change in the next update?
Refresh the comparison when each company files another quarterly report. Focus on whether Dell’s ISG growth remains distributed across AI servers, traditional servers and networking, and storage; whether CSG growth continues to come from commercial demand; and whether HP’s Personal Systems unit trend improves rather than relying only on higher average selling prices.
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Also check for changes in segment definitions, acquisitions, divestitures or reorganizations. A future HP filing could disclose a different level of infrastructure detail, while Dell could change category presentation. Keeping the same four tests—scale, PC momentum, margin and breadth—will make the comparison more consistent over time.
Frequently asked questions
Are Dell Technologies and HP Inc. the same kind of company?
No. Dell Technologies reports a major infrastructure operation alongside its client-PC business. HP Inc. is organized primarily around Personal Systems and Printing, so the companies overlap in PCs but not in the same reported enterprise categories.
Why can HP’s PC revenue rise when its PC units fall?
Higher average selling prices can offset lower unit volume. HP specifically cited pricing actions and mix shifts, meaning customers bought fewer units but the average value of the units sold was higher.
Is HP’s 18.1% printing margin evidence that it beats Dell in enterprise hardware?
No. Printing and data-center infrastructure have different products, customers and cost structures. HP’s printing margin is relevant to a printing comparison, while Dell’s ISG margin is the relevant figure for Dell’s server, networking and storage business.
Can the July 2026 results be compared directly with the annual numbers?
Only after labeling the periods. The July figures cover one quarter, while Dell’s $113.5 billion fiscal 2026 revenue covers the year ended January 30, 2026; annual and quarterly totals answer different scale questions.
Does this comparison prove which company has the larger PC market share?
No. The cited materials do not include a named independent market-share statistic. They support conclusions about reported revenue, growth, margins and portfolio breadth instead.
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Are Dell Technologies and HP Inc. the same kind of company?
No. Dell Technologies reports a major infrastructure operation alongside its client-PC business. HP Inc. is organized primarily around Personal Systems and Printing, so the companies overlap in PCs but not in the same reported enterprise categories.
Why can HP’s PC revenue rise when its PC units fall?
Higher average selling prices can offset lower unit volume. HP specifically cited pricing actions and mix shifts, meaning customers bought fewer units but the average value of the units sold was higher.
Is HP’s 18.1% printing margin evidence that it beats Dell in enterprise hardware?
No. Printing and data-center infrastructure have different products, customers and cost structures. HP’s printing margin is relevant to a printing comparison, while Dell’s ISG margin is the relevant figure for Dell’s server, networking and storage business.
Can the July 2026 results be compared directly with the annual numbers?
Only after labeling the periods. The July figures cover one quarter, while Dell’s $113.5 billion fiscal 2026 revenue covers the year ended January 30, 2026; annual and quarterly totals answer different scale questions.
Does this comparison prove which company has the larger PC market share?
No. The cited materials do not include a named independent market-share statistic. They support conclusions about reported revenue, growth, margins and portfolio breadth instead.
