Deutsche Bank Securities' Analyst Chris Whitmore Initiates Coverage O

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 8, 2005--Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. today announced analyst Chris Whitmore has initiated coverage of four IT hardware stocks. Whitmore added coverage of Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW).
    Although optimistic on the long-term growth potential of the IT industry, Whitmore expects a modest slowdown in IT spending growth in 2005. Slower demand and continued margin pressure in many core hardware markets will likely translate into further investment in adjacent product areas such as software and services by the major IT vendors.
    "We expect most major areas of IT spending to continue growing in 2005, but at a slower pace than 2004. In addition, we expect IT services and software to outgrow hardware in 2005 and 2006," said Whitmore. "In this environment, we believe investors should focus on higher quality IT hardware companies who are positioned to gain share profitably."

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KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE BANKING SOURCE: Deutsche Bank

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