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Technology Stocks : Jabil Circuit (JBL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Anthony who wrote (3021)	3/13/1998 1:26:00 AM
From: Douglas V. Fant	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6317

Michael, Gang, just in case you were worried about PC demand.... ****PC Markets Healthy Despite Investor Fears - Forecast Newsbytes - March 11, 1998 17:47 %TRENDS %SFO INTC CPQ V%NEWSBYTES P%NBYT MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 11 (NB) -- By Craig Menefee, Newsbytes. Market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) says worldwide PC market growth will remain healthy in 1998 despite investor nervousness over recent poor earnings posted by technology giants Intel [NASDAQ:INTC] and Compaq Computer [NYSE:CPQ]. IDC says world-market PC sales will grow 13.4 percent despite "more tumultuous" market conditions and should reach a unit volume of 90.6 million this year. The researchers said solid demand in Western Europe, Latin America and the US will offset local market weakness in Asia caused by the so-called "Asian flu" economic troubles. Even so, the 13.4 percent forecast for 1998 is a step down from 1997 growth of 15.2 percent with 79.9 million units shipped, IDC said. The firm says market conditions will remain tumultuous and called 1998 "a year of transition." Vendors will have to jockey for secure places in a shifting landscape of mergers, consolidations and PC price wars, predicted IDC. "The range and depth of current market changes point to a profound shift in industry business models, concentration of power, distribution strategies and product mix," stated Bruce Stephen, IDC's group vice president of worldwide personal systems research. Market tumult favors the large: "As a group, Compaq, IBM, HP (Hewlett- Packard) and Dell gained more than five percent market share points in the 1997 worldwide PC market," the firm observed. In the US, IDC says branded sales excluding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) shipments should hit 36.3 million for a 15.4 percent growth, down from 19 percent last year but still healthy. The strong US economy and expansion of low-cost PC markets into more product categories will drive growth, IDC said. Western Europe markets will also stay robust, with 13.8 percent growth on volume of 22.1 million units in 1998, IDC said. The firm calls Western Europe "more pivotal" than the US in offsetting Asian and Pacific weakness. In Asia, Japan will improve following its market downturn in 1997, according to IDC. Japan should hit 7.3 percent growth on 8.5 million units if consumers there react as expected to US-driven sub-$1000 PC market action during the second half of the year. The outlook is not as rosy for the rest of the Asia/Pacific region, where IDC forecasts sluggish 6.9 percent growth and 11 million units. These figures contrast sharply with the region's 16.5 percent growth in 1997. IDC said Korea and many ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries are primarily responsible for the flagging market since China, India and Taiwan will remain relatively strong. IDC projects the highest cumulated 1998 growth rate -- 18 percent on 12.5 million units moved -- for what it calls a "Rest-of-World (ROW) geographies" category. Those ROW nations include a solid Canada, the growth-powerhouse Latin American nations, solidifying East Central/ Eastern Europe (EECE) economies, and the Mediterranean and Middle East Africa (MMEA) areas. More information is available at IDC's World Wide Web site at idc.com . Reported by Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com . (19980311/Press & Reader Contact: Bruce Stephen, 508-935-4269, E-mail bstephen@idcresearch.com; or John Brown, 650-962-6478, E-mail jbrown@idcresearch.com; or Kevin Hause, 650-962-6412, E-mail khause@idcresearch.com, all of IDC) [eoa] BTW gang- Hadco manufactures for JBIL, so Hadco who took a "hit" today is another backdoor JBIL investment FWIW.... Sincerely, Doug F.