Weaker-than-expected consumer PC sales at the start of the key back-to-school August shopping season in the US are casting doubt on the sustainability of the technology sector recovery and may force computer makers to cut prices sharply, analysts have warned, reported the online Financial Times (23 August).

Might this not also give rise to layoffs not just in the US, but also elsewhere by ‘wafer’ chip makers? Might this not occasion the replacement, come next budget, of our water meters by ‘smart’ ones to subsidise, under a subterfuge, a large local plant; seeing that unlike the Malta Drydocks it can’t willy-nilly get away with direct state aid?

G. Bonett

Marsalforn