Tech Execs Plan for More Economic Troubles - Emerging Growth
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Emerging Growth
Hope—and success so far—for many companies is based on smaller economies that are increasingly investing at home.
U.S. companies with wide international exposure like IBM have benefited from stronger economies and a weak dollar. Big Blue says that infrastructure projects in the developing world are key.
"If I were in a business model where I needed double-digit growth out of the G7 to drive my performance, I would be in a cold sweat," said IBM CFO Mark Loughridge, referring to the Group of Seven nations.
But Loughridge said an economic tremor in such big, advanced economies would not necessarily be felt by emerging ones. "I personally see less kind of linkage, dependency between the established markets and the high-growth markets," he argued.
Indeed, telecoms company Telstra said the Australian economy was booming. "They can't hire enough people," CEO Sol Trujillo said.
In addition, many technology executives cling firmly to the belief that their products are must-haves—whether they are cell phones that are kept when home phones are canceled, software to make vast computer "server farms" handle more work with less energy, or services to fend off vicious new attacks from hackers who are trying to steal money rather than just make trouble.
"We've seen no slowdown economically in IT spending related to security. It's been a nice opportunity," said Dave Dewalt, CEO of McAfee. "Am I nervous? Do I read the headlines, too? Yes."
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