Juan Carlos Perez

Economic and political problems made many consumers and businesses in Latin America decide to hold off on buying single-function printers last year, leading to a sharp downturn in this market, according to a pair of studies.

Hewlett-Packard Co. easily held on to the top spot in Latin America's PC market in 2002, but its market share shrunk significantly as uncertainty over its merger with Compaq Computer Corp. turned off many buyers, according to a study from Gartner Inc.'s Dataquest Inc. unit.

Accenture Ltd. has partnered with Microsoft Corp. and Avanade Inc. to create a hosted development environment for .Net Web services applications.

ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) will continue to be the preferred broadband method for Latin Americans in 2003, during which subscriptions to this technology are expected to reach 1.2 million, up 60 percent from at the end of 2002, according to a new Yankee Group study.

As chief information officers and IT managers continue to grapple with tight budgets and seek to lower costs, they are increasingly resorting to offshore outsourcing, Gartner Inc.'s Dataquest Inc. division said Thursday.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced Monday that it has awarded IBM Corp. a seven-year outsourcing contract worth over US$5 billion, a move the bank expects will reduce its costs and improve its IT infrastructure and services.

BearingPoint Inc., the IT services company formerly known as KPMG Consulting Inc., is significantly paring down its staff in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to balance its workforce with market demand, the company said Tuesday.

AT&T Latin America Corp. posted a net loss of Godzilla proportions in its third quarter, and warned that it could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection during this current quarter, the company announced Thursday.