In this topsy-turvy environment, you might be better off turning the conventional year-end advice on its head if your bracket will be higher next year, says John Hewitt, chief executive of Liberty Tax Service, a national tax preparation firm based in Virginia Beach, Va.

FORBES: Year-End Tax Planning in the Age of the Fiscal Cliff

Mr Dell added that the new touchscreen products would cost more to produce than their non-touch equivalents, suggesting they should fall within the price bracket Dell targets, rather than the super-low end of the market that it had opted out of.

BBC: Dell looks to future tablets as consumer sales slump