Techs take sharp turn into the unknown

Technology companies have had a rude introduction to the new year. As Carly Fiorina, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, put it when describing the sales slump which led her company to issue a profit warning: "December was like someone turned the lights out."

It's not a bad analogy. We appear to have a full hand of profit warnings from the major technology groups. Intel, Compaq, Apple, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard have all issued warnings and Cisco has all but done the same. Microsoft's struggle to stay ahead of the posse looks increasingly desperate as it turns to one idea after another to retain the magic that ensured it saw off all comers in the 1990s.

At least Ms Fiorina was refreshingly honest when assessing the road ahead. On the subject of the hoped-for soft landing for the US, she said: "The reality is, we don't know." That may explain why she said the outlook for the first half promised little chance of improvement and she was not even prepared to take a punt on the year as a whole.

It will be little comfort to HewlettPackard's 1,500 employees in Ireland but that just puts them in the same league as their peers in the multinational-led technology sector.