Compaq sees rosy sales

Although the company's earnings reports are not expected out until Wednesday in the US, Compaq officials expect "a very good report" for the third quarter. And as the number one purchaser of electronics products from Taiwan, the company's report may help boost flagging confidence in the nation's bourse.

"We expect a very good [third quarter] report," said Sam Shum (沈德昌), director of Alpha server sales in the greater China region.

A good third quarter report by Compaq would not only settle nerves on Wall Street and the Taiwan Stock Exchange over the performance of high tech companies, it also has a trickle-down effect for Taiwan IT product makers.

"I don't know what people are talking about when they say `post-PC era,'" said managing director of Compaq Taiwan, Rosemary Ho (何薇玲), "because we are seeing strong sales."

Last month the company announced it would raise earlier procurement estimates in Taiwan by US$1.1 billion to a total US$9.6 billion. Not only does the revised figure show an increase of 37 percent, it also cements Compaq's place as the top purchaser of Taiwan made IT products worldwide.