Philips CEO: Growth is absent
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Philips CEO Gerard Kleisterlee: Growth is absent but there is money in the market, consumers are willing to spend.
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The technology sector has been taking a beating recently. CNN's Richard Quest talks to Philips CEO Gerard Kleistrerlee for his take on the tech sector. Play video
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Philips, Europe's largest consumer electronics maker, said there was no need to talk of a "grim situation" in the technology sector as consumers were still spending money, but growth remained stagnant.
"There is no reason to talk about a grim situation," Chief Executive Gerard Kleisterlee told CNN on Wednesday. "The semiconductor sector is still faltering. We have seen a big downturn but there are bright spots. There's still a big interest on the consumer side for innovation."
"Growth is absent but there is money in the market, consumers are willing to spend," he said in an interview from the fringes of CeBit -- the world's largest trade electronics trade show -- on Business Central with Richard Quest.
Executives from the world's leading electronic companies are meeting and showing off their latest wares at the CeBit show in Hanover in a bid to boost that stagnant technology market worth about $1.5 trillion in the United States and Europe this year alone.
Philips had one of its worst years ever in 2002 as it posted losses of 3.2 billion euros ($3 billion) as it slashed the value of investments, closed chip plants and cut jobs to restore profitability and growth.
The conglomerate, well known for its light bulbs, shavers, dvd recorders, toasters, flat screens and televisions, has been streamlining its loss making chip business as the industry goes through its worst ever downturn.
At CeBit, Philips is plugging electronic devices with built-in wireless connections known as Wi-Fi. Kleisterlee plans to build more products with wireless access links to a broadband station in the office and home.
Intel, the world's biggest chip maker, is also playing up the role of Wi-Fi products. In a growing number of locations, from airports and cafes to homes, wireless access points based on the 802.11b (Wi-Fi) protocol are making broadband Internet access available to anybody within antenna range.
Broadband users grew by 2 million in the last month of 2002 and there are now about 60 million connections worldwide.
