Forrester Research Updates IT Spending Outlook For Global And US Markets In 2009

 

 

Forrester Research has projected global purchases of IT goods and services in 2009 to decline by 10.6 percent as compared to the three percent decrease previously projected at the beginning of the year. The quarterly update of IT spending outlook from Forrester (News - Alert) also projects a 5.1 percent decline in the US annual IT market as compared to the 3.1 percent decrease that was previously forecasted.

 

According to Andrew Bartels, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research (News - Alert), even though the first quarter of 2009 saw a drop in purchases in the US tech market, the market is expected to rebound sooner. The big drops indicate only a temporary pause in US tech purchases.

 

The research firm expects tech purchases to start recovering in the fourth quarter when businesses realize that they had overreacted in the first quarter. Bartels also added that they are expecting tech markets in Europe and Asia to start recovering in the first half of 2010.

 

The report is titled “US And Global IT Market Outlook: Q2 2009. Forrester was prompted to update its forecasts for technology spending after new data revealed declines in business technology investment. However, the growth in US IT investment is expected to resume in the fourth quarter of 2009. In addition, the year 2010 is expected to bring a revival of IT buying in other markets as well.

 

A number of metrics are used by Forrester to determine the health and size of the US IT market quarterly and the global IT market on an annual basis. The data in the new forecast report focuses on IT purchasing such as how much computer and communications equipment, software, IT consulting and integration services does businesses and governments buy from technology vendors.

 

The report also anticipates lower investment than previously expected across all sectors. In addition, the purchases of computer equipment is expected to be down by 13.5 percent, communications equipment buying to drop by 12.4 percent, software spending to decline by 8.2 percent and purchases of IT consulting and outsourcing services to be lower by 8.6 percent. The report is based on Forrester’s analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as well as analysis of the financial reports of 49 large IT vendors.