Global IT spending to drop by 3.8% in 2009

MUMBAI: The ongoing global slowdown will force companies worldwide to reduce their IT expenditure to USD 3.2 trillion this year against $ 3.4 trn in 2008, according to an IT research company.

"The unprecendented decline of the global economy is impacting the IT industry with worldwide IT spending forecast to total $ 3.4 trn in 2009, a 3.8 per cent decline from 2008 revenue of nearly $ 3.4 trn," IT research and advisory company Gartner said in a report.

Gartner said that all four of the key market sectors of the IT industry-- hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications have been revised downward, with only software spending growth remaining positive.

"Spending in computing hardware will see a decline of 14.9 per cent with total spending to be around USD 324.3 billion as against $ 3.4 trn in 2008," Gartner said.

The spending in IT services and telecommunications sectors will also fall by 1.7 per cent at USD 796.1 billion and 2.9 per cent at USD 1,891.2 billion, respectively, the report said.