SAN FRANCISCO – Dell Inc., the world’s second largest personal computer maker, will offer software applications and more corporate-data management technology to reduce its reliance on sales of personal computers, Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said.

The company in Round Rock, Texas, wants to build sales of servers and storage systems by offering hardware and software to help companies catalog and locate reams of data, Dell said at an annual investor meeting last week.

Dell also plans to step up its presence in smartphones and tablet computers, he said.

Dell is making acquisitions, broadening the product line, and hiring sales staff to expand beyond personal computers and related products, which accounted for 70 percent of sales last fiscal year.

The company is trying to offer corporate customers a more complete lineup of products, Dell said at a reception the night before Wednesday’s meeting in Austin, Texas.

“Instead of selling ingredients like servers and storage, we’re selling the whole data center,” Dell said, adding that the areas he’s targeted for expansion can provide better profit margins than the 23 percent reported in the fiscal first quarter. “It’s the evolution of where storage goes.”

Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said the company would take a disciplined approach to acquisitions.

“We’re being selective and patient as we think about the acquisition strategy,” Gladden said.

The company plans to buy back more than $2 billion in stock this fiscal year, and so far has repurchased $1.6 billion, Dell said separately in a statement last week.

Dell’s revenue from desktop PCs has tumbled 32 percent in the past five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Attempts to enter the mobile computing market, including its Venue Pro smartphone and Streak tablet haven’t found broad markets. Global PC shipments fell in the first quarter, and consumers have been curtailing purchases of desktops and laptops in favor of tablet computers such as Apple Inc.’s iPad.

“The bigger question is, is the business model broken, and what’s the catalyst to get the shares moving again?” said Jeff Schwarte, a portfolio manager at Principal Global Investors in Des Moines, Iowa.