5 December 2003 IBM and Intel, two of the biggest bellwethers in the computer industry, have suggested that companies are finally increasing their spending on technology.

The claims are the strongest indications yet that the recession in the computer industry has bottomed out and that growth is finally returning.

In a presentation to financial analysts in New York, IBM chief financial officer John Joyce said that businesses “are starting to take some risks” and that IBM was “continuing to gain market share” from rivals.

However, he admitted that IBM’s revenue growth of 9.9% in the quarter to the end of September was almost entirely due to acquisitions, rather than organic growth.

Intel has sent an altogether more bullish message. In a mid-quarter conference call, the chip giant said that sales were running ahead of expectations. It had cautiously estimated revenues in the current quarter to be in the wide ballpark of between $8.1 billion and $8.7 billion.

It is now suggesting that revenues will fall in the upper limit of that range, between $8.5 billion and $8.7 billion. Its Centrino laptop microprocessor, which includes built-in wireless networking functions, was selling particularly well, according to Intel chief financial officer Andy Bryant.