Tech spend optimism spills onto ’04

FRANKFURT: The world's largest personal computer maker, Dell Inc., expects large companies to resume spending on information technology in 2004, according to Chief Executive, Michael Dell.

In a joint interview in German business daily Handelsblatt, Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Rollins added that Dell's Christmas business had been going very well.

"It looks as if the large companies will slowly return to spending on new IT equipment," Dell was quoted as saying in the interview. "This could bring the breakthrough we hope for because companies have been very reluctant."

Rollins cautioned that corporate customers were waiting longer to replace computers.

"We see that corporate customers aren't replacing their computers after three years, as they used to, but that they are using them one or two more years," Rollins said.

Market researchers have said personal computers in this quarter were shipping out at a rate last seen during the tech bubble, as notebook computers were at the top of many Christmas shoppers' gift lists.

Rollins said that spike in demand could fall during the first quarter.

"Nobody knows if there isn't going to be a slump in the next weeks. Especially the consumer business is prone to such a decline in the first quarter," Rollins said.

Last month, Dell said it expected to post revenues of $11.5 billion in the quarter to January, and earnings of 28 cents per share.

Rollins reiterated he was optimistic that annual revenues would grow to $60 billion by 2005.

Reuters