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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (51593)	9/15/2002 11:35:54 PM
From: High-Tech East	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

... from the Financial Times ... No tech reboot Published: September 16 2002 5:00 \| Last Updated: September 16 2002 5:00 Two years after the decline set in, there is still no sign of a recovery in demand for computing and telecommunications equipment. Indeed, another leg of the technology downturn now looks likely. Predictions of stabilisation and a rebound in demand have been founded on little more than wishful thinking. The signs in recent weeks are that a normal seasonal pick-up in sales is not coming. Chronically sick sectors such as telecoms equipment are worsening. The price war in the enterprise computing market, selling equipment to companies, has turned vicious. The back-to-school uptick in demand for personal computers has failed to materialise. The broader economic picture offers no hint of respite. This is the time of year when chief financial officers turn their thoughts to next year's budgets. In the current climate few seem likely to open their corporate pocket books for big information technology projects. A downturn the industry had hoped was cyclical is turning out to be structural. Federal Reserve statistics show that more than a third of manufacturing capacity in the computer, semiconductor and communications equipment sectors is lying idle. Just two years ago, those factories were running at nearly 90 per cent of capacity. These stark figures are echoed in the headcounts of some of the big tech companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere. Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq Computer, announced more than a year ago, was a rare admission that the world needs fewer big tech companies. In this instance, however, the battle to win over employees, customers and shareholders during the merger was botched. HP has yet to prove the deal will pay off. Until this becomes clearer, other large tech mergers are unlikely - few managers are willing to risk a big deal at a time of such uncertainty. Industry restructuring is more likely to come through the grind of cost- cutting and attrition than a wave of mergers and acquisitions. After the go-go years of the 1990s, this is a difficult message to accept. The entrepreneurs who thrived on the dizzy prospect of limitless growth have yet to prove they can buckle down to making money in difficult markets and reshaping what are now vast global companies. There are still any number of cool technologies that could revolutionise the way we work, live and play. Bill Joy, an industry visionary, spoke recently about new trillion-dollar markets when people connect to the internet from their cars or when computer chips are implanted in nearly everything. The tech industry may indeed ride some of these new technologies to bigger and better things. But the job of clearing up after the last party is still half-done. The next one cannot begin until it is finished. news.ft.com

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (51593)	9/15/2002 11:47:25 PM
From: cfimx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

she's right qwik. if that's who you got in representin, it's over. then again, it's over anyway.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (51593)	9/16/2002 11:34:17 AM
From: techtonicbull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

There is one way that SUNW will be saved from ruin. That is if they place their efforts in the direction of significant cost cutting. Realistically, they have quite a significant customer base who is committed to using and upgrading SUNW products. I think they will still be able to tap into this market. I also believe that they need to be less a maverick but more of a collaborative player in the businees. Sunw cannot thumb its nose at the DELL's of the world or the others. They need to work closely with these players to see what money can be made. Finally, they need to vote Scott McNealy off the board of the company. Get rid of him! Get someone new involved. In short something radical needs to be done and QUICK.