Through The Fly's Eyes: Consumer vs. Business

from Theflyonthewall.com















The Consumer Has Been Driving Technology This Decade:
Is It Time For A Change?

Last night in its conference call, Intel (INTC) said that the consumer will be driving the first ramp in demand for Microsoft's (MSFT) Vista operating system. Tonight, Apple (AAPL) reports results. The company's huge success has obviously been driven by the iPod, a consumer product.

However, beneath the headlines, Intel mentioned that its server business is doing quite well. Also, other large-volume high-end companies such as Sun Microsystems (SUNW), Level 3 (LVLT), IBM (IBM) and possibly EMC (EMC) are seeing improvement in their operating performances.

While investor attention is still focused on Apple, the iPod and the consumer, the revenue and operating performance of technology companies focused on the business customer appear to be improving nicely for the first time in a long time.