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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dealer who wrote (3712)	9/26/2000 8:16:36 AM
From: Dealer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

INTC--Compaq sees no consumer PC sales slowdown By Michael Kramer TAIPEI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The head of Compaq Computer Corp's consumer business said on Tuesday he saw no signs of declining sales in home computers despite analyst forecasts that PC shipments will slip in 2000 and 2001. ``If you look at the facts in the consumer side of the house, there aren't any figures to back up a slowdown,'' said Michael Larson, senior vice president in charge of consumer products for Compaq, the world's largest personal computer company. While Larson emphasised he could not speak authoritatively on sales to enterprises, he said the impression of a weak PC market may have come from factors such as slow adoption of the Windows 2000 operating system for corporate customers. ``I personally think that perception has more to do with commercial PCs than with consumers,'' he told reporters in Taipei. He declined to give sales forecasts as Compaq is in its ``quiet period'' ahead of releasing third quarter results. Compaq's growth was reflected in its rising outsourcing contracts to Taiwan firms, Larson said. He said Compaq expected to purchase US$9.3 billion worth products from Taiwan-based manufacturers this year, up from a previous forecast US$8.4 billion and US$7.96 billion in 1999. All of Compaq's original equipment manufacturing (OEM) partners are Taiwan firms. Larson also said a persistent shortage of computer parts reflected strong demand. ``We are chasing selective components almost every month. If there was a slowdown, I think it would be a whole lot easier to get the parts.'' A sales warning by world number one chipmaker Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) last week revived fears that world PC shipments are slowing, as the U.S. firm holds a virtual chokehold on microprocessors for personal computers. Analysts have also forecast that the PC industry will ease from 1999's strong growth. Credit Suisse First Boston said in a recent research note that it forecast PC shipments to rise 17.8 percent in 2000, down from 23.84 percent in 1999 but still above 12.8 percent growth in 1998. Salomon Smith Barney forecasts 15 percent PC unit growth for 2000. Larson said home PCs may have reached relatively high penetration of 50-60 percent in U.S. households, they still had plenty of room to grow overseas. ``If you look at households worldwide, (penetration is) still in single digits,'' he said.