CEO Forum - Q3/2003

2. One year from now, do you see a stronger worldwide economy?

CEO #1: Growth is in the Asia and Pacific market, especially China.

CEO #2: Economic indicators are showing some positive signs. I think that mid-July will see Q2 earnings from the US companies. Should the results be good, we will look to certain strengthening of the world-wide economy by end of year. If results are not strong, it may be another difficult year for the economy.

CEO #3: After a long-term worldwide economy decline, enterprises start on internal adjustment. For the IT industry, as long as the infrastructure and integration of networking, broadband and wireless coming to be mature, new applications will bring new market demand. We believe the worldwide economy will ramp up soon.

CEO #4: But it won't be sky-rocketed. We foresee a low single digit growth in 2003.

CEO #5: I am more modest for the coming year. Yes, the war is over, and this can bring up the consuming power. But the recovery and business spending seems to be slow. After SARS, the Asia and Pacific market seems to have gotten better than expect, and we expect the post-millennium upgrade market growing this year.

CEO #6: All governments worldwide are devoting themselves to creating a stronger economy.

The health of the worldwide economy will have an impact on the status of the PC industry. In down times, consumers will tend to hold back, as PCs aren't necessities, and the commercial section will try to stretch out their upgrade cycles. At the moment, many analysts can't agree on the current status of the US economy and where it is headed, which just seems to reiterate some of the mixed signals in the US marketplace. The jobless rate is at an all time high, but stocks and business seem to be steadily recovering. The general consensus seems to be recovery, but outside of stocks and profits, the jobless rate and consumer confidence will be the biggest things that overseas manufacturers keep their eyes. The worldwide the economy seems like it is in recovery, and many analysts point to the move of manufacturing companies to overseas countries like China for the jobless rate in the US. However, demand will most likely need to pick up for an immediate effect.