Sun Microsystems, the leading vendor of the large servers that run the Internet, saw its previously rapid growth rate come to a screeching halt in its fiscal third quarter as corporations cut way back on technology purchases. And unlike other valley tech leaders who have said that tech spending has bottomed, Sun Chairman and Chief Executive Scott McNealy said no one knows when the slump will end. That's the only sure bottom I know.
Economists have nary a clue, and they are trained in it.
This was worse than the 10 percent to 13 percent revenue growth the company predicted in late February, when it warned investors of a third-quarter earnings shortfall. Last Wednesday, after HP announced 3,000 job cuts and warned analysts that its second quarter would fall below expectations, CEO Carly Fiorina said that the disappointing quarter could be a bottom. Intel CEO Craig Barrett and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Jerry Sanders made similar observations last week about the personal computer business. I'm happy they can say that. Later, Lehman said Sun does not feel comfortable making global economic forecasts.