The News General DM News Worldwide IT spending to grow by 3% in 2010 says IDC
03 February 2010
Worldwide IT spending will grow 3% in 2010 and may rise higher if the US dollar weakens, says analyst IDC.
IDC, along with analysts Gartner and Forrester, say cloud computing, SaaS, and hardware virtualisation projects will be key drivers for IT growth. Gartner has also singled out document management among its top ten technology segments for growth in 2010.
IDC said worldwide spending on IT will continue to feel the effects of the global recession throughout 2010. It said IT spending will "increase by just 3%" in 2010 at constant currency. In the US, IT spending is forecast to increase by less than 3%.
"Despite pent-up demand for upgrades and new applications following the deep spending cuts of the past year, economic uncertainty will combine with capital and credit constraints to inhibit spending in mature economies," said Stephen Minton, an IDC analyst.
He said, "The engine of global industry growth in 2010 will be in emerging markets, in particular China and India, where IT spending will recover much more quickly."
IDC forecasts that worldwide IT spending will reach $1.48 trillion in 2010, still below the $1.5 trillion recorded in 2008. "Following a decline in overall tech spending of 4.5% at constant currency in 2009, IT spending will not fully recover from the global recession until sometime in 2011," Minton said.
IDC's forecast of 3% growth in worldwide IT spending is also at constant currency, and does not assume future fluctuations in the value of the US dollar or other international currencies over the next 12 months. If the US dollar weakens in 2010, the actual recorded growth of IT spending in US$ may be significantly higher, said IDC.
IDC expects hardware spending to grow by 5% in 2010, while software spending and IT services spending will grow by 2% and 3%, respectively.
