OCT. 4–HOPKINTON, MA–Citing a “brutal” lack of demand for technology products, data storage giant EMC Corp. reports that its third-quarter financial results missed expectations and it plans to lay off 7 percent of its work force, or 1,350 people.

The news marked a major retrenchment for a company that previously had resisted calls to make even deeper job cuts as it waited for a spending turnaround.

The Boston Globe reports that EMC hasn’t determined how many of its roughly 7,350 employees in Massachusetts will lose their jobs in the coming round of layoffs. The company will have 17,000 employees at end of the process, down from a peak of 24,500 early last year.

EMC also said it doesn’t expect to achieve its goal of becoming profitable during the second half of the year, and said it doesn’t know when large customers like banks and airlines will resume their technology spending.

“The harsh reality of reduced budgets and the uncertainty of the economic and geopolitical climate are weighing heavily on business confidence, causing key projects and the corresponding IT [information technology] spending to be delayed,” EMC chief executive Joe Tucci said in a statement. “We don’t know when IT spending growth will resume.” Sales were on track until the very end of the quarter, Tucci said, traditionally the time EMC closes many of its deals.