High tech turns back on the economic crisis

By Zhu Shenshen  |   2008-10-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

PEOPLE crowded into an electronics show yesterday in Suzhou, lining up for free gifts and discounted gadgets. Even though the world is facing its toughest financial crisis, the visitors to the fair seemed oblivious to this.

The economic meltdown will have relatively less influence on the IT industry and there are still opportunities in the sector even in the current situation, said exhibitors attending the Electronics Manufacturing Exposition (eMEX) in Suzhou.

A total of 557 exhibitors, including Samsung, NEC, Acer, BenQ and China Mobile, are taking part in the show. In the 44,000-square-meter expo center, the latest technologies in semiconductors, displays, personal computers and entertainment electronics are on show.

Globally speaking, Intel Corp, Microsoft Corp and other technology companies will lose sales as the crunch catches up with them, analysts said. Corporate spending on computers, software and communications equipment may be little changed or fall as much as five percent next year as the lending freeze spooks clients, said Jane Snorek, an analyst at First American Funds. It would be the first decline in IT industry since 2001 after the dot-com bubble burst.

"It (the economy) does influence the market but I have to say it's in a limited range. I can't imagine people not using computers or logging on to the Internet," said JT Wang, Acer's chairman, who is also the Taipei Computer Association's chairman.

During the show, Acer displayed its 8.9-inch netbook Aspire One, which helped the world's No. 3 PC maker to sell the most notebooks in September.

With a reasonable price - Aspire starts at 2,999 yuan (US$439) - and design, consumers still want computers even in a recession. Acer forecasts it will sell 15 million netbooks next year, double its previous expectations, Wang told Shanghai Daily.