SANTA CLARA--Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday he still sees a "certain buoyancy" among technology and telecommunications customers worldwide, despite recent U.S. economic woes. "Our industry is not immune to what goes on in the global economy. And yet as I travel...given the current circumstances, people still see a certain buoyancy in the market," Ballmer told a meeting of Silicon Valley civic leaders.
"At least, for now, people are feeling, I won't say optimistic, but better than you would be feeling if you are watching CNBC all day," he said of the financial TV channel.
Ballmer, the leader of the world's largest software maker, said he was speaking generally of industry demand rather than his own business. "We are one week from the end of the quarter, so I have nothing all that interesting to say," he joked.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expect the Redmond, Washington-based company to generate an 8 percent rise in revenue to just under $15 billion during its fiscal first quarter ending in September.
