The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said there were no “green shoots” of recovery for the world’s telecommunications and information technology (IT) companies because one of its recent tech surveys showed a growing sentiment that the current recession would be long-lasting.
“The green shoots of economic recovery are virtually nowhere to be seen,” EIU said in its biannual Tech Sector Barometer survey released on Friday.
The EIU is part of a UK-based company that publishes the Economist magazine.
In the survey, about 46 percent of the 367 tech companies polled said they expected market demand to deteriorate from its current low over the next six months, while only 20 percent said demand would rise.
In addition, 66 percent of the polled companies said their financial health would worsen in the next six months, compared with fewer than 10 percent that expected an improvement in finances.
Meanwhile, nearly 44 percent said they would either maintain or slow down their investments in research and development activities to cope with the current recession, with just 20 percent expecting the opposite.
The EIU’s survey came amid a mixed market discussions about whether the “green shoots” of recovery have arrived after governments around the world introduced various stimulus packages to revive consumer spending.
The EIU said its survey showed that software and telecommunications companies would be faring better than those in the hardware sector during the recession.
It said this was because companies still needed to invest in software to maintain their business operations and consumers needed software upgrades to continue communications, even though they would opt to cut expenditures on non-essential replacement equipment.
Carla Rapoport, EIU director of industry briefing and forecasts, said in a statement that there were some positive signs in the tech sector: low debt among the big players, growing demand in emerging markets and no major concern of overcapacity problems.
But, “the industry clearly sees little chance of an early recovery,” Rapoport said.
Also See: Analysts grasp at possible 'green shoots'of recovery
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS