Dell cuts guidance, showing industry uncertainty

SAN FRANCISCO — Dell Inc.’s deci­sion to cut its rev­enue fore­cast for the year shows how com­puter mak­ers are get­ting pulled in two direc­tions at once, stretch­ing some investors’ faith to a break­ing point. Cor­po­rate and gov­ern­ment demand for PCs has been strong for the past year, help­ing to lift the indus­try after the Great Reces­sion. But con­sumer demand has col­lapsed because of high unem­ploy­ment and the lure of new gad­gets such as tablet com­put­ers and smartphones.