The currency crisis was taking a toll on printer sales in four Southeast Asian countries, an IT research firm said.
They would decline sharply for the second half of 1997 because of the resultant stagnant economic growth.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), sales of medium to high- end printers will drop about 10 per cent because devalued currencies have slashed corporate earnings in Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.
In addition, several business leaders are not expecting 1998 earnings to turn around. For example, PT Matahari Putra Prima, Indonesia's largest department store, recently cut next year's earnings forecast by 43 per cent.
Even more alarming to businesses that depend on the region for profits, Massachusetts Institute of Technology economists are predicting Asia's growth will slow to an annual average of 4 per cent over the next five years. That is half the growth rate of the last 10 years.
Brokerages have been forced to change their earnings forecasts as well. And some argue the new forecasts of listed companies are still as much as 20 per cent too high.
'This is partly due to analysts interviewing managers in denial,' said one researcher. 'Much deeper cuts will have to be made to bring earnings forecasts closer to reality.' However, IDC's senior printing technology analyst, Martin Chau, said demand for network laser printing, such as IBM's network printer (NP) series, would continue to grow because of its efficient pooling of computers to one printer.
