Dell quietly jacked up its prices at the start of this year, but its account managers are only now filtering that information through to the computer maker’s partners and customers, The Register has learned.

The firm, which plays second fiddle only to Hewlett-Packard on worldwide computer shipments, didn't go public with its decision to raise list prices across its desktops, laptops, servers and storage commercial product range. Dell brought the price rise in on 5 January.

One Dell customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed that UK prices have shot up between 15 and 20 per cent.

However, Dell - which has been undergoing a painful reorganisation by laying off 13 per cent of its workforce in recent months - insisted that “providing best value to our customers” remained a “priority”.

“We continue to monitor the currency situation closely and will of course update our pricing strategy if we see the currency situation improve,” it said. ®

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