Technology industry executives polled by DLA Piper say the financial crisis has affected their business, but most expect spending to continue and anticipate an economic rebound.SAN FRANCISCO
(Reuters)—Despite turmoil in global markets, two-thirds of senior technology
industry executives polled in a new survey say the economic slowdown will not
hurt them as badly as the bursting of the tech bubble in 2000.
However, more than three-quarters of
respondents say their business has been impacted by the financial crisis,
according to the study, which was released on Monday by the law firm DLA
Piper.
Still, only 27 percent said they were cutting sales and marketing
expenditures, and only 15 percent said they were reducing planned R&D
spending. The executives were surveyed between Sept 23 and Oct 6.
"That suggests that most of the companies are focused on the fact that
this crisis would not have a big impact on them or that they wanted to continue
to make investments through this cycle," said Peter Astiz, global co-head
of the technology sector practice at DLA
Piper.
Slightly more than half of the respondents think the economy will begin to
rebound in the second half of 2009, while nearly a third think it will not
happen until 2010 or later.
However, a majority agree that the market for initial public offerings—often
seen as a sign of truth health in the technology industry—is not likely to
rebound until at least 2010.
The poll received 145 responses from senior executives at technology
companies and venture capital firms in the technology sector.
Separately, a study found that overall VC investment in the third quarter
dipped 1 percent from the previous quarter to $7.37 billion, according to data
compiled by Dow Jones VentureSource. That figure is 7 percent lower than a year
ago.
Investment in information technology companies fell 10 percent from the
second quarter to $2.73 billion.
A bright spot came in renewable energy, which saw investment surge 71
percent from the second quarter to a record $1.08 billion.
(Reporting
by Gabriel Madway; editing by Carol Bishopric)
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