Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The New Economy and its Winners -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (14561)	10/25/2002 6:25:06 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57684

Tech spending could crawl back to life By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 24, 2002, 4:53 PM PT news.com.com Tech spending could accelerate toward the middle of next year, according to a poll of chief information officers, a trend that could benefit Microsoft and a few select companies. Fifty-one percent of the respondents in the poll conducted by Merrill Lynch said that information technology demand should pick up in the second or third quarter of 2003. Seventy-five North American and 25 European CIOs participated in the poll. "A number of users pointed to aging equipment and a backlog of user requests for reasons why spending will improve," the study stated. Microsoft, Cisco Systems, IBM and Dell Computer could be the main beneficiary of this trend, Merrill Lynch added, as all these companies were viewed as becoming more important to the internal operations of the CIOs' companies. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said Microsoft was becoming more important to their business. By contrast, SAP, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Electronic Data Systems were seen as becoming less important. Thirty-one percent of the respondents, for instance, said HP was becoming less important, while only 28 percent said it was becoming more important. Thirty-four percent said storage giant EMC is becoming less significant, compared with 22 percent who said the company is gaining in prominence. The "more important, less important" weightings have been predictive, sometimes, of future buying patterns, Merrill Lynch said. Still, the future looks somewhat rocky. Although Microsoft had the strongest poll numbers of any company in the survey, reducing software costs was an issue respondents felt most strongly about. Large companies are increasingly using their power to negotiate lower software license fees. This past year, Microsoft has been embroiled in a controversy over its new licensing plan that effectively forces customers to accelerate purchases.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (14561)	10/25/2002 6:33:48 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 57684

Software firms grab the venture money By Dawn Kawamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com October 25, 2002, 11:20 AM PT news.com.com Software companies captured a 28 percent increase in venture funding during the third quarter, while virtually all other industry sectors posted across-the-board declines, according to a venture capital survey released Friday. Investments in software companies rose to $1.2 billion in the quarter, compared with $952.4 million in the previous quarter, according to a joint survey by research firm VentureOne and professional services giant Ernst & Young. "Software is a strong cornerstone in (information technology) venture investing, whereas telecommunications has fallen out of favor," said John Gabbert, vice president of Worldwide Research at VentureOne. Venture investments overall, however, are down significantly. Investments fell 24 percent sequentially to $3.9 billion in the quarter--marking the lowest level in four years. Despite the massive pullback in funding, companies that develop business-applications software posted a 49 percent sequential increase to $391 million in the quarter, while companies that make connectivity and communications software tools received a 24 percent increase to $307 million. "The growth in software investment can be attributed to those sectors that are the current focus of government and corporate spending," said Bryan Pearce, venture capital advisory group leader for Ernst & Young. "These include security...as well as data center management and enterprise application integrations, which are among the few areas where major corporations are increasing IT spending." The software sector, and to a lesser degree the information services and semiconductor industries, helped stem a massive erosion in IT investments. The technology industry received $2.5 billion in venture funding during the third quarter, slightly down from $2.54 billion in the previous quarter. Information services rose 18 percent to $94.4 million in the quarter, compared with the previous quarter. And the semiconductor industry climbed nearly 8 percent to $369.6 million over the second quarter. But the communications and networking sector dropped 26.5 percent to $633.4 million in the third quarter, while the electronics and computer hardware sectors fell 39 percent sequentially to $187.2 million.