Business could drive recovery

Are things looking up for high tech? Wally Rhines at Mentor Graphics sounded an optimistic note at Semicon West last month, and today the Boston Globe reports, "Three of the world’s top technology companies - IBM Corp., Intel Corp., and Apple Inc. - have announced strong financial results for the second quarter of 2009. The numbers from tech firms based in Massachusetts haven’t been as uniformly upbeat, but results from data storage giant EMC Corp. in Hopkinton and microchip equipment maker Teradyne Inc. in North Reading suggest the sharp drop in demand for high-tech products may have hit bottom."

The Globe article continues, "Teradyne, the number one maker of microchip testing gear, benefited from a welcome resurgence in orders from chipmakers around the world. ‘The core semiconductor chip testing business has recovered,’ said Teradyne spokesman Andrew Blanchard. "

The Wall Street Journal says a general economic recovery depends on business spending: "After registering its steepest downturn since the end of World War II, the economy looks poised to start growing again. But with consumers expected to keep a tight lid on spending, a recovery hinges greatly on how businesses behave in the months ahead. If they stop slashing their inventories and investment, it could mark the first legs of an upturn. Business showed some signs of healing in the government’s report on second-quarter gross domestic product, but executives remain very cautious."