SOMEONE SEEMS to have forgotten to tell tech buyers about the looming downturn because they keep on buying kit.

Microsoft is the latest company to report happy numbers but Oracle, Seagate and IBM also scaled a luminous summit (nice phrase, no?) with their recent quarters.

As Seagate boss Bill Watkins said in a recent interview, even as consumers buy fewer houses and cars, the appetite for electronics appears to be proof against economic trends, particularly for companies with global coverage.

As we’ve said here before, it’s too easy to forget just how big Microsoft is these days.

The latest bust-out revenues total $16.3 billion, up 30 per cent year on year. There are startups that would like that growth rate.

Sales to business customers remained “brisk”, Microsoft said. µ