HAPPY DAYS?:

Quarter ends on up note: Latest earnings leave room for hope, analysts say (David R. Baker, October 18, 2003, San Francisco Chronicle)

The late 1990s it ain't.

But for many tech companies, 2003's third quarter brought significant growth in sales -- further evidence Silicon Valley's long, bleak slump may be over.

The flurry of earnings reports streaming from the valley this month has brought tales of rising revenues for makers of chips and computers. Online businesses -- survivors of a brutal three-year shakeout -- scored gains in sales and profits.

But not everyone benefited. Valley mainstay Sun Microsystems reported a dismal three months and slid on Wall Street, where analysts were already questioning the firm's direction. The handheld computer maker Handspring saw its sales nosedive 76 percent from last year.

But for many technology firms, in many corners of the industry, the quarter brought brightening prospects. Much of the improvement so far can be traced to consumer spending -- on laptops, on electronic gadgetry -- but even long-dormant business spending has shown signs of an increase.

You'd think there'd be one heck of a lot of business spending pent up by now and that once it gets going and folks start upgrading computers and the like that have been allowed to become outdated, it would add fuel to a recovery that's already chugging along.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 18, 2003 8:35 AM