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May 14, 2001 Headlines--- Denrich--Redux Bob Rodi Hits the Mark/Bob Rodi Misses the Mark “More Commissions, Better Pay, from Better Credits”-- Wes Simkins Eastern Bank Selects State Street PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology Forecast 2001-2003 Mobile Internet The Economy--Comment by CIT Observation of AD Revenues Cronos Group ( containers ) 1st Q--Net Income $594,000
Heller Financial -- Robert E. Radway Assumes More Responsibility,
The List Up-Dated---Wednesday ( Look for the Leasing News Advisory Board Workshop Saturday Afternoon, National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers New Orleans Conference ) #### denotes Press Release from the company -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denrich Thanks Barry ( Reitman ) and editor for stating your point. I worked at Denrich from 1986 until its demise. I have never worked with such fine people in my life. (Mike O'Keefe, Chuck Brazier, Mark Speros, Pete Smith, Dee Dibenedictis, Fred MacDonald and many others) We had a well-oiled machine that produced consistent volume without sacrificing quality. Our policies were clear, but we were always available to discuss transactions. I miss the people and especially some of the brokers I used to work with. I know they miss us too. As for bad volume, perhaps they bought more aggressive at the end as the AT&T issue was unfolding....nonetheless, had the person who spoke wrongfully against Denrich obviously never worked there. Alex Alonso Bullseye Financial Services Inc. Bullslease@aol.com + + + Many thanks to "The Editor" and Barry Reitman for their positive comments regarding Denrich (RIP). In all of the years that I have been doing credit in small ticket leasing (33+ years) I have never worked with a more professional, competent, experienced credit group then at Denrich in both Kansas City and Miami. Credit quality ALWAYS came first. I do not recall any pressure from management, even during the final months of Denrich's existence, to book leases at the expense of credit quality. What happened to credit after the acquisition by AT&T is another matter, but the two credit operations should always be viewed as separate and distinct If "name withheld" would like to discuss the relative quality of the credit function at Denrich versus any other small ticket funding source I would be happy to meet him out behind the hotel in New Orleans for a little "heart-to-heart" chat. Mark Speros, Director-Broker Division Landmark Financial Corporation Englewood, CO Mark@lfcinc.com Reply to Mark from "Name Withheld" Upon further investigation, it appears that Mark Speros was replying to a compilation of comments about Denrich. I want to make it clear that mine were not disparaging. I believe my comments were misunderstood. I have nothing but praise for the way Denrich treated me and for how they handled their credit and operations. My comments were strictly directed at Fleet's dislike of the "high rate - high risk - small ticket" credit business. Interestingly, I live in the heart of Fleet Bank country and Fleet did not use the Lake-Sanwa-Fleet operation for their branch office equipment leasing program. Last time I checked, about a year ago, they were using Tokai! That says more about their opinions than I ever could. I would appreciate your keeping my name unpublished, but feel free to forward a copy to Mark Speros if you feel the need. Name Withheld ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bob Rodi Misses the Mark. I am truly surprised by the comments from Bob Rodi about the demise of JDR. Bob is (was) a leader in UAEL and he is thankful that JDR is out of business? What a short sighted attitude. The industry should expect more of its leaders; I certainly do! We at Pawnee Leasing Corporation have been doing "C" and "D" credits for 19 years now and doing quite well, Bob, thank you. We fulfill an important niche in the overall picture of leasing and JDR was a worthy competitor. Maybe Bob thinks that the people in these companies are just afterthoughts. At Pawnee Leasing Corporation everyone of our employees are stake holders and every deal that goes down comes out of their pocket and I'll bet the same was true at JDR. How can that personal suffering be a happy event? Any time a lease company goes down it is a slap in the face for all of us that remain. We recently closed a significant commercial paper conduit facility and I must tell you that investment bankers are tuned in to this site. People make bitches without proof, complain without looking at their own complicity, and few of these sign their name. Take warning my fellow lease partners, the investment bankers read the "Leasing News" and comments meant to destroy do so. Why would anyone take such great joy in expanding the "List"? Rob Day, PawneeRob@aol.com CEO, Pawnee Leasing Corporation + + + Bob Rodi hits the mark. The broker who wrote about JDR Capital, in typical brain-dead broker fashion, has no idea what fodder he or she provides to funding sources who, especially in times of limited available capital, run away as fast as they can from the broker community. I spent several years talking and working with funding sources, from national, regional and local banks, to the major investment bankers on Wall Street, and I can tell you from personal experience that without exception, these money sources distrust equipment lease brokers. After reading the comments from "Name Withheld" on JDR Capital Remembered, is anyone surprised? The sad reality is that while I agree with the sentiments expressed by Bod Rodi, a positive turn in the economy will invite new lenders into the equipment leasing business who will, because they lack any ability to generate volume on their own, welcome the volume only brokers seem capable of delivering. Worse, the current lenders who all have been burned by the worst among the brokers, will begin again to accept their transactions. The cycle will then begin again: Loose money, wide-open credit windows, reduced margins for lenders, rising delinquencies, and lender failures. Sorry Bob, but human nature, that is, greed, just won't allow the bad apples to fade into oblivion. Unfortunately, we'll again one day hear lenders gripe about getting bitten by the pet rattlesnakes they insist on keeping in their dens. In the meantime, the honest brokers will have to decide how long they will endure this endless cycle of insanity, which prevents them from building businesses that have any real franchise value. Steve Chriest SCHRIEST@aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lease Team Thank you, Kit, for the nice article on LeaseTeam. We really appreciate it! Ann Godwin <Ann@LeaseTeam.com> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ More Commissions, Better Pay, from Better Credits-- Wes Simkins I received some very encouraging emails from the opinion you published from me that you named, "Bill Granieri Lives". Most of the response was very positive and some of it explained how tough times encouraged the need to process tougher credits. Some folks explained to me how the tougher credits earned more points and helped put food on the table. I haven't found this to be absolutely true. Matter of fact, I've found you can get away with more commission in the easier credits, and if you sell it just right, the customer thanks you when you're done. This has put more food on my table than the tough credits. I've also found the better credits tend to pay their bills, which keeps my funding sources healthy. Tough times seem to bring out the need for more creative ways to get deals funded. Unfortunately it also brings out the possibility of covering up a bad bank or trade reference. One thing we all need to remember is, if we want to survive the slow times we must do all we can to protect our funders. The more we go out of our way to ensure they receive good quality paper, the longer they will stick with us with their whole hearted support. I never try to cram or force a deal on a funder. Quite honestly, If I feel their is something fishy about the deal, or feel the funder will get hurt in the process, I just turn it down in house. The rest of our sales people do the same thing. We are not greed driven, we are support oriented. Support goes both ways; funder and customer. I would rather lose the 10%-15% commission and earn the respect of the funder and have them approve 5 more for me. I like to feel our funders know and respect the way we operate, which gets more approvals for me in the long run. The President of our company has spent 15 years building the reputation we have and if he ever thought I was slinging crap to see what would stick, he would fire me tomorrow! It doesn't matter that I am producing mega sales, what matters is, I am producing in a fashion that far exceeds the absolute demands of honesty and integrity that he has set on all of us here. Hard work, excellent salesmanship, honesty and integrity are the deciding factors that will allow the strong to survive. Zig Ziglar says, "you can get anything you want in life, IF you help enough other people get what they want". I believe in this and live it daily. As brokers we must protect those valuable funders and keep them around for the long run. Again, this is my opinion, not the opinion of the company I work for. Wes Simkins Sales Associate Piedmont Equipment Leasing wes@piedmontleasing.com ( I am seeing more companies being "timid" to let their "employees" send e-mail to Leasing News. Maybe we should have a disclaimer that the opinion is not necessarily the opinion of the company, only of the sender, as a policy. I personally assume unless the e-mail is from the president of the company, it is the opinion of the sender only. Many readers want to withhold their name not because they are afraid to let you know who they are, but companies, such as GE, Balboa, United Capital, and others appear to have a corporate policy about communicating here and on the internet. I assume all opinions are personal, unless it is from the president and then sometimes the opinion of the president is their own, and not the company's, especially if it concerns whether they like Vanilla ice cream better than Chocolate or Strawberry. I prefer Coffee Ice Cream, my self. editor ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Salesmen Pay ---Still working on the survey. Did not finish it as was getting ready for the New Orleans Conference and meeting with the Leasing Advisory Board, our first one "eyeball-to-eyeball." If you would like to participate, you may do so anonymously. This is for lessor or brokers/superbrokers, how salesmen are renumerated. Learn if you are "average," "above average," " paying too much." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Economy The economy continues to slow down this second quarter, as predicted. Even dry cleaners are noting less business from regulars and especially from hotels/motel business travelers. Telephone usage is down, too, including business cellular. Perhaps another sign comes from this report from CIT: ############################################################## CIT Broadcasting Outlook Forecasts Record 2001 Ad Revenue Dollars Despite Dot.com Meltdown
LIVINGSTON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2001-- Over-the-air TV will experience the slowest ad revenue growth, radio will continue to do well and cable TV will expand at a healthy pace The economic slowdown will slow broadcast ad growth significantly, while delivering record dollar levels, according to the 2001 Broadcasting Outlook released today by CIT (NYSE:CIT, TSE:CIT.U and Exchangeable Shares: TSE:CGX.U), a global source for financing and leasing capital. Total ad revenues for the three sub-segments of broadcasting - over-the-air TV, cable TV and radio - are predicted to increase only 4.4 percent in the current year to $79.72 billion. On an after inflation adjusted or real basis, ad revenues should rise a minuscule 2.3 percent to $73.07 billion. Ne vertheless, the dollar levels will be records in both cases. "Ad growth in the broadcast industry has been fueled by the dot.com phenomena, the 2000 presidential election, the Summer Olympics and an optimistic consumer outlook about the U.S. economy in recent years," said Stephen J. Turpin, Jr., Vice President and General Manager of the Specialized Finance Group, CIT Equipment Financing. "Although the economy is the main culprit behind the ad revenue growth slowdown, the slowdown is also reflective of the dot.com meltdown that began last year and continues into 2001. The dot.com's needed to get the word out about their Web sites so they began to adv ertise like there was no tomorrow - which it turns out there wasn't for many! Indeed, in many cases, well over 50 percent of a dot.com's expenses were spent on advertising." According to CIT's 2001 Broadcasting Outlook, over-the-air-TV should experience the slowest ad revenue growth of the three sub-segments due to it being a mature media that is not particularly efficient at reaching a targeted audience. "We look at the use of over-the-air TV advertising as akin to u sing a shotgun, that is, it hits many objects but doesn't go particularly far or deep," stated Michael Paslawskyj, Vice President of Economic Research at CIT. Nominal ad revenues are expected to rise just 2.3 percent this year for over-the-air TV, down from a robust 11.1 percent in 2000. Going for ward, a growth of nearly 6 percent is anticipated, reaching a record $48 billion. But there's no stopping cable TV. "Cable, unlike over-the-air TV, affords advertisers a rifle-shot approach, reaching the audience they want," said Paslawskyj. "If you are selling fishing equipment, it is much more cost effective to advertise on a cable TV fishing show than on a network comedy sho w." After rising 18.6 percent in 2000, cable ad revenues should expand at a healthy 10.5 percent pace in 2001 and a 9.9 percent rate in 2002, reaching a record $15.01 billion. About the only threat to cable is Direct Broadcast Satellite, or DBS. From just 2.3 million subscribers in 1995, DBS now b oasts over 14 million, adding another 3.4 million in 2001. Radio is another medium that continues to do well, with ad revenues rising a very strong 13.8 percent in 2000, 11.5 percent on an inflation adjusted basis. According to the Outlook, this will slow to 5.1 percent in 2001 and then accelerate to 7.8 percent next year, 6.0 percent after inflation, rea ching a record $22.18 billion while real ad revenues hit a record $20.00 billion. "Radio often commands a captive audience during drive time when the only two alternatives are listening to nothing or listening to a tape/CD," reflected Paslawskyj. "While radio is much like over-the-air TV in that i t is more of a scatter-shot approach to advertising, it is somewhat more focused in that different stations have different formats, i.e. music (by type), talk, news, etc.". CIT sees better times ahead for broadcast revenues in 2002. The economy is forecast to grow in excess of 3 percent in 2002, which in turn could allow for ad revenues to rise 7.1 percent to a record $85.35 billion. On a real basis, ad revenues are forecast to rise 5.4 percent to a record $76.96 bil lion in 2002. About CIT CIT is a leading, global source of financing and leasing capital, and an advisor for companies in more than 30 industries. Managing more than $50 billion in assets across a diversified portfolio, CIT is the trusted financial engine empowering many of today's industry leaders and emerging businesses, offering vendor, equipment, commercial, factoring, consumer and structured financing capabilities. Founded in 1908, CIT operates extensively in the United States and Canada with strategic locations in Europe, Latin and South America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information on CIT, visit the Web site at www.cit.com. CONTACT: CIT Equipment Financing Laura Plemenik (973) 740-5466 laura.plemenik@cit.com or Stanton Crenshaw Communications Naya Kolarova (212) 780-1900, ext. 572 naya@stanton-crenshaw.com ############################################################## Eastern Bank Selects State Street to Provide Full Global Trade Banking Services to Eastern's Customers
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2001--Eastern Bank, a $3.5 billion full-service bank based in Boston, announced today that it has selected State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), one of the world's leading specialists in meeting the needs of sophisticated global investors, to provide global trade ba nking services to Eastern. The agreement combines Eastern's customer service and corporate lending expertise with State Street's technology and global reach, enabling Eastern to offer an integrated suite of international banking services. Eastern can now offer its commercial customers full service letter of credit processing, front-end Web-based trade initiation systems, back office processing services, and access to State Street's multicurrency and foreign exchange services. For State Street, this contract marks its fifth trade banking outsourcing agreement and first in the United States, reflecting a growing business of helping financial institutions provide clients with sophisticated trade services capabilities. Eastern, meanwhile, can quickly offer more international banking products, as it attracts new commercial customers. Last year, Eastern's commercial loan portfolio grew 26 percent to $1.2 billion. "It would have taken us years to build the technology infrastructure needed to conduct these transactions, and even then we couldn't have matched State Street's global reach," said John Farmer, vice president and head of treasury services at Eastern. "The partnership with State Street was the most effective way to meet our commercial customers' needs." Eastern has recently expanded its international banking capabilities, hiring Rosemary Russell to head its sales and customer service efforts. Russell has 20 years experience in international banking. "We are very excited about the opportunity to work in partnership with Eastern to provide corporations in Massachusetts with access to State Street's suite of integrated trade banking services and capabilities," said Sandy Andrews, senior vice president and head of State Street's global trading business. "Companies throughout Massachusetts are becoming increasingly global in their outlook and we believe that the combination of Eastern's strong commercial banking business and client service focus and State Street's experience and investments in international trade will provide companies with the tools and capabilities that they need to manage successfully the international aspects of their business." Eastern Bank is a $3.5 billion full-service banking company with 47 offices in Eastern Massachusetts. Eastern's lines of business include consumer banking, corporate lending, capital markets, small business banking, cash management, asset-based lending, equipment leasing, private banking, trust and investment management, mortgage banking, and consumer finance. For more information, visit www.easternbank.com. With $5.8 trillion in assets under custody and $703 billion under management, State Street Corporation is the world's leading specialist in meeting the needs of sophisticated global investors. Offices are located in the United States, Canada, Chile, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, Russia, People's Republic of China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. State Street Corporation's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STT. For more information, visit State Street's web site at www.statestreet.com. ############################################################# The Cronos Group Reports First Quarter 2001 Results--Net Income $594,000 First Quarter
SAN FRANCISCO----The Cronos Group (Nasdaq:CRNS) today reported net income of $594,000, or $0.06 per share, for the first quarter of 2001 compared to net income of $2.8 million, or $0.31 per share, for the same period in 2000. Net income for the first quarter of 2001 included a gain on the sale of investment securities of $301,000, or $0.03 per share, compared with a similar non-operating gain of $3.1 million, or $0.34 per share, in the first quarter of 2000. Total revenues were $33 million for the first quarter of 2001 compared with $38.5 million for the first quarter of 2000. This was primarily the result of two factors. Gross lease revenue was $2.7 million lower than in the first quarter of 2000 as the uncertain global economic environment resulted in reduced demand for leased containers. In addition, the gain reported on the sale of investments in the first quarter of 2001 was $2.8 million lower than in the corresponding period of 2000. Total expenses for the first quarter of 2001 were $32.4 million compared with $35.4 million for the comparable period in 2000. Selling, general and administrative expenses declined by $0.8 million, or 19.3%, due to reductions in manpower, professional services, and non-operating legal expenses. Direct operating expenses declined by $0.9 million, or 12%, as increased storage costs for a larger off-hire container fleet were more than offset by lower repositioning, legal and other expenses. Payments to container owners decreased in line with the fall in gross lease revenue. Cronos is one of the world's leading lessors of intermodal containers, owning and managing a fleet of over 397,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). The diversified Cronos fleet of dry cargo, refrigerated and other specialized containers is leased to a customer base of approximately 450 ocean carriers and transport operators around the world. Cronos provides container-leasing services through an integrated network of offices through state-of-the-art information technology. This release discusses certain forward-looking matters that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from estimates. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, changes in international operations, exchange rate risks, changes in market conditions for the Company's container lease operations and the Company's ability to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions. For further discussion of the risk factors attendant to an investment in the Company's Common shares, see the Introductory Note in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000, which was filed with the SEC on March 26, 2001. This press release and other information concerning Cronos can be viewed on Cronos' website at www.cronos.com. ############################################################ Heller Financial Expands Responsibilities of Robert E. Radway, Promotes Howard T. Widra
CHICAGO, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Heller Financial, Inc. (NYSE: HF) today announced that the responsibilities of Robert E. Radway, 40, have been expanded to include international strategy and corporate development activities. His new title is Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development. In this position, Radway will work with all of Heller's businesses to take advantage of significant opportunities leveraging Heller's international franchise. Since 1999, Radway held the dual positions of Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, and Group President, Heller Healthcare Finance. As a result of Radway's expanded role, Howard Widra, 34, has been promoted to Group President, Heller Healthcare Finance. Widra has served as Executive Vice President of Healthcare Finance since 1999. Both appointments are effective immediately. "Over the past two years, all of Heller's businesses have become increasingly international in ways we never imagined," said Richard J. Almeida, Chairman and CEO, Heller Financial, Inc. "Therefore, we are focusing on how we prioritize and commit corporate resources against a broadening array of opportunities. To this end, we are very excited about the new roles Robert and Howard are assuming." While serving as Group President, Radway led the growth of Heller Healthcare Finance's portfolio by more than 60 percent and successfully established Heller as the leading provider of debt financing to small and mid- size healthcare companies. Almeida said Radway leaves the group well situated to take full advantage of its franchise position in healthcare lending. On the corporate development side, Almeida added, Radway has done a superb job of guiding Heller through a number of acquisition and business development opportunities. Widra is responsible for further expanding Heller's presence in the healthcare sector and taking advantage of the company's strong growth prospects in this important market segment, Almeida said. This effort began upon Heller's acquisition of Healthcare Financial Partners in 1999. Prior to joining Heller in 1998, Radway held several senior positions with The Finova Group Inc., including Executive Vice President with responsibility for one of Finova's three strategic business units. Earlier in his career, he worked for First Fidelity Bank Corporation and CMS, a privately held investment firm in Philadelphia. Radway received an M.B.A. Degree from the University of Santa Clara and a B.S. from Syracuse University. Widra was Chief Operating Officer of Healthcare Financial Partners when it was acquired by Heller. Earlier in his career, he was a practicing attorney with Steptoe and Johnson, LLP, in Washington D.C. Widra received a B.A. Degree from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Heller Financial, Inc., is a worldwide commercial finance company providing a broad range of sophisticated financing solutions. With $20 billion in total assets, Heller offers equipment financing and leasing, sales finance programs, collateral and cash flow-based financing, financing for healthcare companies and financing for commercial real estate. The company also offers trade finance, factoring, asset-based lending, leasing and vendor finance products and programs to clients in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Heller's common stock is listed as "HF" on the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges. Heller can be found on the World Wide Web at www.hellerfinancial.com . ############################################################# The Mobile Internet New Applications Will Drive Success of Mobile Internet, According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology Forecast 2001-2003
MENLO PARK, Calif.----Widespread mobile Internet usage has unlimited potential to change the face of business, but its success depends on the timely development of new applications designed for the unique characteristics of the mobile environment, according to the 12th annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Forecast, released today. "To be successful, the mobile Internet will need to find its own 'killer applications'--it won't just be the conventional Internet delivered on a handheld device. This is particularly true in regions where business professionals and consumers already have widespread access to PCs," notes Eric Berg, a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Technology Centre and editor-in-chief of the Technology Forecast: 2001-2003. "There is a tremendous amount of innovation occurring around the mobile Internet, a technology that strives to provide both consumers and businesses with untethered access to information and applications." Today, mobile hand held devices such as mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have only small displays and limited storage. They lack a keyboard and their wireless networks operate at speeds no faster than the dial-up modems of the late 1980s. The success stories from the initial generation of mobile Internet applications will be those that can offer compelling benefits in spite of these limitations, according to Mr. Berg. In addition to a discussion and analyses of applications and enabling technologies for the mobile Internet, this year's extensive report discusses emerging platforms and wireless communications. It also includes interviews with five senior executives of companies in the industry: Alan Harper, group strategy director, Vodafone Group; Kurt Hellstrom, president and CEO of Ericsson; Don Listwin, president and CEO, Openwave Systems; Dr. Keiji Tachikawa, president and CEO, NTT DoCoMO; and Paul Wahl, president and COO, Siebel Systems. Top findings from Technology Forecast 2001-2003 around the mobile Internet theme include: -- The mobile Internet will succeed only if new applications are developed that can take advantage of the unique characteristics of the mobile environment. New "killer" applications that will benefit from immediate access to and timeliness of information, as well as new capabilities such as location-based services, will be critical in promoting mobile Internet usage. These will likely be much different than anything on the Web today and will be unique to the mobile Internet. -- The mobile Internet will provide a critical channel for businesses to interact not only with customers, but also with employees and business partners. Business-to-Everything (B2E) initiatives or technology applications are on the rise and will enable companies to leverage enterprise systems and increase productivity and efficiency of an increasingly mobile workforce. -- Businesses will use the mobile Internet to reach consumers as part of a multi-channel delivery strategy, combining the wireless world with the conventional Web, e-mail, "bricks and mortar" retail storefronts and call centers. This implies that companies will need to build information systems capable of handling customer interaction through all of these channels. -- Despite all the attention paid to third-generation (3G) technologies and license auctions, the real development to watch over the next couple of years is the roll-out of 2.5G networks, beginning with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) as an upgrade to existing GSM networks, which will provide an always-on packet-based network and make the mobile Internet much more usable. As carriers build out their 3G networks, their initial focus will be on expanding the number of customers they can serve with current service offerings, rather than on new broadband applications such as mobile video conferencing. -- The United States lags behind other countries in the adoption of mobile Internet technologies by consumers and businesses. The regulatory environment in many parts of Europe and Asia, for example, led to a single wireless standard in most parts of the world, encouraging users of telecommunications services to tap the benefits of mobile services at a faster rate. This, in turn, has led to accelerated innovation by global, non-US based carriers and equipment makers, leading to faster deployment of enhanced wireless networks and more widespread use of early mobile Internet applications in Europe and Asia. The Technology Forecast: 2001-2003 is the result of comprehensive research and analysis by the PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Centre in Menlo Park, California. The Technology Centre has a staff of researchers, technology analysts, and consultants with extensive experience in advanced applications of existing technologies and knowledge of the potential uses of emerging technologies. The Technology Centre draws on the expertise of its own technology professionals, and also conducts interviews and research on an ongoing basis with businesses, scholars and industry analysts, to analyze and forecast technology trends. Issued annually, the Forecast provides detailed information and insights about new technology developments that are used by global decision-makers to anticipate change and plan accordingly. Technology Forecast: 2001-2003 includes eleven chapters, each providing a detailed look at one area of technology. Taken as a whole, the Forecast offers a unique view of both the underlying infrastructure technologies that drive e-business advancements and the new computing platforms that global businesses will use in the future. "This year's Forecast maintains our traditional emphasis on core aspects of information technology, such as semiconductors, computer systems and communications, but adds a new focus on the developing world of mobile computing," said Berg. "The information in the Technology Forecast provides business executives with an important competitive advantage, because these technologies have become essential to an increasingly wide range of businesses. Just as the Web transformed the competitive landscape during the second half of the 1990s, the mobile Internet will begin to do the same in the next few years." PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's largest professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, we help our clients solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organization. ############################################################
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