BARCELONA, Spain -- Some 300 investors and financiers from around the world could leave this week's Barcelona technology conference none the wiser to where the industry is headed.
On the second morning of one of the technology industry's premier events, the annual investors conference organized by investment bank CSFB, fund managers were still trying to find out where the battered industry was going and how the 88-odd participating European companies saw their future.
"I have a pretty mixed review on this conference. There is some frustration, particularly after presentations from companies like Germany's SAP, which gave very little details. I came in looking for a bit more forecasts from companies," said Patrick Wierckx, fund manager at Netherlands-based MN Services.
His comments echoed those of other fund managers.
Many companies here simply repeated previous earnings statements and forecasts.
At Cisco's presentations entitled "Still Riding the Tidal Wave," the company avoided talking numbers altogether.
"I've heard one or two of these companies outright avoid answering questions, especially in the equipment sector," said one Scotland-based fund manager.
One CSFB analyst described the change in tone this year from last year in this way: "Last year people were eager to talk about their companies. This time, they're being more realistic."
Or perhaps just scared.
In the corridors, some European executives said they were extremely worried about the U.S. economic slowdown, which has so far failed to bite Europe.
"Basically, no one wants to be the first one to break step," one UK CEO told Reuters, asking not to be named. "The slowdown is going to hit Europe much worse than a lot of CEOs had imagined, and I believe we are just seeing the beginning of it."
On the record, the majority of them cited "low visibility" as the main reason they refrained from specific forecasts.
Unlike a year ago -- when CEOs at the same conference seemed to be gushing with proclamations -- executives at the Credit Suisse First Boston's 3-day affair threw up a wall of caution as they were drilled to provide forecasts for the rest of this year and comment on when they thought stocks markets would improve.
Higher profile companies like Cisco, AOL Time Warner and SAP could only muster a pledge of confidence in a eventual market revival, while refraining from backing up their hopefulness with hard numbers.
Nokia and Philips were virtually the only companies on Monday that were close to giving some indication to where they were heading this year and next, although Nokia, which stuck by earlier guidance, excluded press from its presentation.
Nokia's outlook was described by investors as having a rosier outlook than other companies at the conference.
Philips expected a weak remainder of the year.
"I think we will see a further bottoming out in the second and third quarters of this year but after that, who knows..." said Jan Hommen, finance director of Philips Electronics.
Other companies pledged to maintain their level of investment, for instance in research and development, to underline their faith in a quick recovery.
"We have no plans to roll back capital expenditure this year -- even if that means cutting into the bottom line," said Cor Stutterheim, executive chairman of IT services company CMG.
"I believe what's happening is only temporary because we can see clearly the orders coming in and the demand from companies for our products," he added.
