Loren Loverde Consumer Quotations

More mature regions like the U.S. and Europe were significantly affected by consumer conservatism and a softening business segment, while Asia and other emerging regions were more robust.

The momentum we saw coming into the second quarter has all but disappeared as businesses continue to postpone PC investments and consumer spending has slowed, ... Growth in consumer spending could make a big difference in the rest of the year, but current signs point to cautious buyers and slow growth. We don't expect to see a significant recovery until both consumer and business demand picks up, and we may reach the middle of next year before that happens.

Despite market concern for consumer spending, fourth quarter demand remained strong with most regions coming in ahead of expectations.

Although it is clear that consumer demand in the U.S. is weakening, buying in other regions remains strong. PCs remain the dominant means of accessing the Internet, and a lot of people out there are still buying PCs to get online.

The cumulative impact of a worsening economy, declining capital investments and reduced consumer spending is strongly affecting the Japanese market. Although the Japanese market resisted for a while, it now looks like the PC market in Japan will be flat-to-negative into 2002.