Tech chiefs enter 2003 with dim hopes

DAVOS, Switzerland: The corridors have been full of talk of war on Iraq and the

sluggish U.S. economy. But technology executives have been

taking the pulse of their market, often in back-to-back meetings

with customers, ranging from aircraft manufacturing bosses to

the heads of global retail chains.

"There's no big uptick," Gates told the World Economic

Forum. "It's OK, but not good," said Dell, Chief Executive of Dell.

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, who prides himself on being

close to his clients, stressed the volatility of the short-term

outlook. A sales uptick like the one seen last spring, and which was

widely seen as the beginning of a recovery, was followed by a

slowdown after the summer.

This was the reason why Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems said," Anybody who thinks they can forecast has been proven dead

wrong," Some executives grumbled that the looming war in Iraq put a

reward on being cautious.

To be on the safer side most companies said they had

tightened their belts and were investing even less in new

technology compared with 2002 when many already cut their

capital investments sharply.

Gerard Kleisterlee, CEO of Philips Electronics said he expected

above average technology spending growth in areas such as

healthcare and personal safety and security.

Sun's McNealy added that technology still self-destructed

after a while and this  would continue to fuel demand.

© Reuters