Healthy Spending Expected on PCs from SMBs

Small and medium businesses in the U.S. are expected to pump more money into new computers in 2010 than on any other type of hardware, according to a recent report from NPD Group (News - Alert).

NPD’s “SMB Technology Report,” discovered that 77 percent of SMBs surveyed will spend more or at least around the same on new PCs this year compared with what they spent last year. Among those, 41 percent expect to buy directly from the manufacturer, a figure that holds true for both small and larger firms. Among businesses with less than 50 employees, 43 percent will use retail or e-commerce channels to purchase their PCs. But among firms with more than 50 staffers, 40 percent said they’ll use value added resellers for their purchases.

NPD analyst Stephen Baker found new PCs to be an important part of corporate IT spending this year. Maintaining and upgrading their technology was cited as a key driver for PC purchases among 70 percent of the SMBs questioned, many of whom had cut spending in 2009. Among firms with more than 200 employees, 80 percent said they’d be buying PCs this year to maintain their corporate infrastructure, according to Baker.

The surge in PC buying could be good news for IT professionals as well. Among the SMBs questioned, 51 percent said they’re ramping up their computer purchases to support new growth opportunities, while 41 percent said they’re doing it to support new hiring.

But the news isn’t all rosy. Around 23 percent of the firms questioned are likely to reduce PC purchases this year and also spend around 32 percent less on other types of hardware, including servers, printers, storage devices, and network equipment. Among those that plan to reduce spending, 38 percent laid the blame on budget cuts while 18 percent cited reductions in IT staff.

To compile its results, NPD received responses from 250 IT decision makers at businesses with less than 1,000 employees. The online survey was conducted between March 29 and April 30.