Dell has begun shipping its first line of projector products from its Limerick base in a move to extend its reach in the computer-peripherals market. But the Texas firm, which employs 4,500 staff in the Republic, also used the occasion to warn of continued gloom in the global technology industry.

Mr Tim McCarthy, managing director, Dell Ireland, said the state of the global economy was the key factor for the technology market and there had to be a rise in confidence before any recovery.

"I don't think we've seen that yet and there still seems to be turmoil in the markets," he told The Irish Times. But he said the firm had no plans to cut any more jobs at its three plants in Limerick, Bray, Co Wicklow, and Cherrywood, Co Dublin, following two redundancy schemes in just 12 months.

Dell was increasing its share in most markets during this downturn and its Irish operations remained the most competitive of all Dell's global hubs, according to Mr McCarthy.

Dell's first projector product to be launched on the market - the 3100MP - was a natural extension of what the firm was already doing, he said.

"A lot of our current customers are focused on using projector products. Many are the so-called road warriors, sales people out on the road giving presentations, but there is also a market for home-users," he added.

The projector, which weighs 1.6kg and retails at €3,229, excluding VAT, in the Republic, offers consumers so called "plug in and play capability" with most laptop computers to project an image at up to 7.5m, about five times the size of a television.

Mr McCarthy believes the product could be a hit with consumers here who want to watch DVDs from their laptop computers at home by projecting images onto a wall.

He said the company had already notched up sales this week following the arrival of the projector.

Dell's 3100MP projectors are shipped to Europe from Dell's Limerick base, although the product is being manufactured by partners of the computer manufacturer.