IT Spending to Grow 3 Percent in 2010, IDC Says

Global IT spending will increase 3 percent in 2010, with much of that growth coming in such emerging markets as China and India, according to research firm IDC.

In a report issued Feb. 3, IDC analysts said that continued worries around the global recession as well as tight cash and credit flow will hold down spending in more established regions, including the United States, where IT spending will grow less than 3 percent.

“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,” IDC analyst Stephen Minton said in a statement.

Worldwide IT spending will reach $1.48 trillion this year, slightly below the $1.5 trillion spent in 2008.

IDC’s numbers are slightly less optimistic than those put out by Gartner Jan. 21. In that report, Gartner analysts said they expect spending to grow 4.6 percent, to $3.4 trillion, equaling what Gartner said was spent in 2008.

Gartner analysts said they were encouraged by the numbers, and hadn’t expected to see spending return to 2008 levels until 2011.

In a separate report Jan. 19, Gartner reported that CIOs worldwide—after having their budgets decline 8.1 percent in 2009—will see budgets remain flat this year.

Globally, IDC analysts said hardware spending should increase 5 percent in 2010, with software growing 2 percent and IT services 3 percent.

PC spending will jump 3 percent—up from an earlier forecast of 2 percent—and that outlooks for other hardware sectors, including servers, storage devices, and networking equipment, also were raised, IDC analysts said.

Regionally, Asia/Pacific will see IT spending jump 6 percent, Eastern and Central Europe will see a 9 percent increase and the Middle East and Africa 12 percent.

Spending in Latin America will grow 5 percent.

Spending in Western Europe will be flat in 2010.