Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in Europe this week to discuss Microsoft's
Software Plus Services strategy with customers and partners. But as storm clouds darken around the U.S. financial system, Ballmer is instead fielding a flood of questions about how the crisis could affect global IT spending.
In a Tuesday interview with Reuters, Ballmer said it's reasonable to assume that no company will be immune to the global financial crisis, including Microsoft.
"Financial issues are going to affect both business spending and consumer spending, and particularly ... spending by the financial services industry," Ballmer told reporters at a press conference in Oslo, Norway.
"We have a lot of business with the corporate sector as well as with the consumer sector and whatever happens economically will certainly effect itself on Microsoft," said Ballmer, who will also visit Denmark, the U.K., France, and Portugal this week.
Last week in an interview with Bloomberg, Ballmer said it's possible that the financial crisis could trigger a pullback in IT spending, although he stopped short of predicting that this would actually occur.
Microsoft believes government invention will provide the quickest route to recovery, and on Monday, the software giant released a statement urging the U.S. House of Representatives to reconsider the proposed bailout package.
"This legislation is vitally important to the health and preservation of jobs in all sectors of the economy of Washington State and the nation, and we urge Congress to act swiftly," said Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement.
