Dell has unveiled a new head of manufacturing as part of the latest in a series of reshuffles at the computer maker designed to address a string of poor results and the loss of market share to its main rival, Hewlett Packard.

Michael Cannon, who was chief executive of Solectron, will assume the new role of president of global operations at Dell, taking responsibility for manufacturing, procurement of parts, as well as other aspects of Dell's supply chain and distribution.

Mr Cannon's appointment comes less than a month after Michael Dell, who founded the company and was until recently its chairman, reassumed the role of chief executive from Kevin Rollins, his close friend and protégé, in an attempt to turn around the company's lacklustre performance.

Dell, which has traditionally focused on a direct-sales model — particularly of desktops to businesses — has been affected by a shift in the computer market towards consumers buying laptops from electronics retailers such as PC World.

The company recently ceded its position as the largest PC maker in terms of units sold to Hewlett Packard, and Asian rivals such as Lenovo Group, of China, and Acer, of Taiwan, have also gained in global market share.

Mr Dell has indicated since taking back the reins that the company, which is well known for its tightly managed supply chain, could be more efficient, and that it may shift towards a 'light touch' model, which would involve manufacturing fewer components "in house".

"We will innovate and adapt our supply chain model to help drive differentiated product design, manufacturing and distribution models," said Mr Dell, who began running the company from his college dormitory room.

Dell has missed several earnings projections in recent quarters, and last year had to recall 4.1 million batteries because of safety concerns.

The company, which suffered a 3.3 per cent decline in UK sales last year, also announced in August that the US Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating its finances.

Mr Cannon, who at Solectron was responsible for providing manufacturing services to computer makers and other electronics companies, is a Silicon valley veteran.

He has been chief executive of Maxtor, a disk-drive maker that was acquired by Seagate Technology, and has also worked at IBM.

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