News and analysis to 17th April 2003
Sun – ray of
hope?
Unix box shifter and Java parent Sun Microsystems has just
squeezed a profit for its third quarter. There is a question mark over its
future, as it seems quite focused on the technology, citing its future will be
underpinned by R&D investment. However its competitors such as HP and IBM
are racing up the value chain closing big ‘business solution’ deals.
Fasten your seat belts for e-Government
According to research firm Input, US government spending on IT
will jump from $45bn this year to $68.2bn in 2008. The race is on across the planet to provide a better service to
citizens, reduce the paperwork, synchronise the departments and do all of this
at less cost.
Intel - too Flash
Intel’s Q1 results hit the high end of a lowered forecast.
Net income was $915m down 2.2%. Company leaders pointed out that the price hike
on their Flash memory chips led to a marked fall-off in sales.
Microsoft delivers
Despite the woes within the tech sector, Microsoft exceeded
expectations on both earnings ($2.8bn) and revenue ($7.8bn). It also appears to have stacked up $46bn in
cash. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft buys next. Enterprise
application vendor Baan is back on the market and Siebel looks vulnerable. Microsoft was downbeat on PC growth so could
well beef up its enterprise offerings.
ARM wrestles with tough market
UK chip designer ARM has seen a plunge in profitability for
its first quarter from £10.7m to £4.3m. This could well be an indicator that
the telco handset makers are not moving product as fast as previous, which in
turn implies that the telco operators are not expecting growth in the
foreseeable.
HP source
HP is getting good at being IBM. Its foray into outsourcing
has led to a $3bn deal with Procter and Gamble, and a $1bn deal with
Ericsson. Today outsourcing is also a
‘shareholder pleaser’ at Unisys and Accenture.
