According to GE's latest Technology & Business Services Industry Research Update, revenue and earnings expectations for most public tech vendors remain uncharacteristically subdued heading into the normally easonally strong 4th quarter. Slow improvements in U.S. GDP have been overshadowed by weak emerging markets, uneven job growth and IT efficiency & simplification measures (virtualization, cloud, tablets etc.). The U.S. Federal Government shutdown coupled with the debt ceiling drama at the outset of the quarter also presents a challenge to the usual expectations for a robust finish to the year.

The GE report says slowing trends in the global demand for PCs, laptops and on-site servers primarily reflects the combination of the end of a previously robust refresh cycle as well as form factor and platform substitutions favoring tablets, smartphones and the cloud. Additionally, corporate IT buyers have been hesitant to add computing capacity due to a lack of visibility that uncertain fiscal policy will have on the growth trajectory of U.S. GDP and likewise corporate profitability and IT budgets.

To read the full GE Technology & Business Services Industry Research Update, click here.