Nortel turns to Chapter 11

The news that Nortel Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week dominated the headlines in the international world of ICT. The ongoing saga at Satyam Computer Services also continued to hog the news. At home, the ICT market was very quiet.

* A negative trading update from Datatec.
* David McAlpin was appointed CEO of PIC Solutions; and Peter Watt was appointed temporary CEO of Dialogue Holdings and deputy chairman of Itec Distribution.
* Stephen Leonard, CEO of PIC Solutions, resigned (he is moving to Dubai as CEO of PIC Solutions International).

* Telecel Globe, a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom (Egypt), acquired Cell One (Namibia), a mobile network operator, for $59 million.
* BaVa Technologies has opened an office in Namibia.

The worldwide PC industry grew 1.1% in Q408, its lowest growth rate in shipments since 2002, according to Gartner.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Netherlands-based AVG, a global anti-virus and Internet security software provider with over 80 million users in 167 countries, acquired US-based Sana Security, a developer of identity theft prevention software. This is a continuation of the significant consolidation that occurred last year in the security segment of the ICT industry.
* Eastman Kodak bought the scanner division of B"owe Bell + Howell, a supplier of high-performance document management solutions and services.
* IBM purchased the strategic messaging service assets of Hong Kong-based Outblaze, a provider of online messaging and collaboration services.
* Nuance acquired a number of patents and other speech technology created by IBM. Recently Nuance acquired Philips' speech recognition activities. It is the owner of Dictaphone and has a bid outstanding for Zi Corporation.
* Vector Capital, a private equity firm specialising in the technology industry, bought Aladdin Knowledge Systems, a leader in information security, for $160 million. The latter's DRM and authentication assets are to be under common management with those of SafeNet, another member of the Vector Capital family and another leader in information security. Vector Capital also has investments in Corel, LANDesk Software, Printronix, Watchguard Technologies, WinZip and several other technology companies.
* Nortel Networks and some of its units filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada, with similar filings expected shortly in Europe. Its stock in New York and Toronto has ceased trading.
* Apple announced Steve Jobs has taken extended sick leave.
* Iran has awarded its third mobile licence to Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat), the Arab world's second-largest telecommunications company.
* Samsung Electronics will restructure itself into two units: one focused on consumer products such as cellphones and TVs, and the other on components such as memory chips and displays.
* SCO Group has filed its formal reorganisation plan with the bankruptcy court.
* The European Union has charged Microsoft with new anti-trust violations regarding the tying of its Web browser, Internet Explorer, to its Windows operating system.
* Satisfactory quarterly results from Infosys Technologies.
* Mediocre quarterly results from Amphenol, Intel (profit down 90%) and Tata Consultancy Services.
* Quarterly losses from ASML NV (revenue down almost 50%), LG Display (the world's second-largest LCD maker) and Sony Ericsson (revenue also down).
* Carol Bartz was appointed CEO of Yahoo; and Stephen Luczo was appointed CEO and president of Seagate Technology (this is in addition to his position as chairman).
* Carol Bartz resigned as CEO of Autodesk; Susan Decker resigned as president of Yahoo; and William Watkins, CEO of Seagate Technology, also resigned.

* The acquisition by Toshiba of Fujitsu's hard disk business, a move that would make Toshiba the world's largest supplier of small hard drives.

* The worldwide PC industry grew 1.1% in Q408, its lowest growth rate in shipments since 2002, according to Gartner.
* Global PC shipments will grow by 7.1% in 2009, ie, 300 million units and up from the 270 million units in 2008, according to Taiwan's Market Intelligence Centre.
* Global purchases of IT goods and services by businesses and governments will decline 3% in 2009 to $1.66 trillion, according to Forrester Research. Last year there was an 8% growth.

* JSE All share index: Down 5.3%
* Nasdaq: Down 2.7%
* Top SA share movements: African Cellular Towers (+17.9%), Beget Holdings (-33.3%), Dynamic Cables (+20%), Faritec (-28%), Labat Africa (-33.3%), SecureData (-21.3%), Stella Vista (-26.9%), TCS (+120%), TeleMasters (+28.6%) and Zaptronix (-20%)

CIO magazine has published its listing of the nine hottest IT skills for 2009, as cited by respondents to Computerworld's annual Forecast survey. They are:

* Programming/application development; SAP and .net skills.
* Help-desk/technical support. Those with both the ability to communicate and deep technical expertise.
* Project managers.
* Networking specialists with implementation experience.
* Business intelligence specialists.
* Security professionals especially with SAP experience.
* Web 2.0 skills.
* Data centre skills that embrace server and storage virtualisation expertise.
* Telecommunications. Specifically, unified communications skills embracing such things as VOIP.