Information technology spending will not improve until there is an upturn in corporate profits, according to Mr Craig Barrett, chief executive of Intel. And he warned higher profits in the sector could not be expected soon.
"Until you see some degree of corporate profitability in the US, Western Europe and Japan, I think you're going to see limited IT investment," Mr Barrett told Supercomm, a major telecom equipment conference.
Mr Barrett's comments echoed those by Hewlett-Packard chief executive Ms Carly Fiorina who told analysts at a meeting in Boston: "We are seeing a slower recovery in IT spending than any one of us would have liked."
Earlier in the week, another Intel executive, Mr Mike Splinter, head of sales and marketing, said at the Computex computer show in Taipei that he saw no signs of recovery in global technology demand beyond normal seasonal patterns.
Intel will deliver first-quarter results after US markets close on Thurday.