Asked by the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung whether the upturn in the industry had not yet started, Intel chief executive Craig Barrett replied: "No."

"Whenever we start to hope, the Iraq war comes along, or SARS, or some other challenge," Barrett said in a comments reproduced in German.

"We expect this quarter to turn out similar to the previous one and the past two years. We won't slide lower, but neither can we talk of an upturn."

The problem lay with business customers, Barrett complained.

"Companies in industrialised countries are currently not investing, they're waiting. The crucial point will when companies start to invest again. The industry will only recover when European, Japanese and US firms start pumping money into computers again."

SPACE.WIRE