Global - Industry - Equipment Companies - 2005

Synopsis

Following the industry downturn in the early 00s, most companies had started to recover during 2004, although with more streamlined operations in terms of employees and core businesses. With a few exceptions, most of the major equipment suppliers had returned to healthy levels of profitability and sustainable debt. Some got there via bankruptcy proceedings. To ensure a future after the downturn, most companies retained fairly constant levels of R&D spending during the lean years. This report summarises the position of the major players, and gives some forecasts for where the market is heading.