Gartner says global technology spending to grow 5.3 percent in 2010

Gartner: tech spending to grow 5.3 percent in 2010

STAMFORD, Conn. — Worldwide spending on technology products and services will grow 5.3 percent to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, research firm Gartner Inc. said Monday.

Gartner’s forecast follows a similarly upbeat outlook from Forrester Research last week. Forrester projected growth of 7.7 percent to $1.6 trillion.

The research firms use different methods for their forecasts. Gartner’s calculations include telecom spending, which the firm expects to hit close to $2 trillion in 2010.

Gartner said Monday the information technology industry will “continue to show steady growth,” with 2011 spending projected to surpass $3.5 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010.

“Following strong fourth-quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth,” said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement.

But he added that nearly 4 percentage points of the growth will be due to a projected decline in the value of the dollar from last year.

When adjusted for currency exchange rates, Gartner said it expects spending to grow 1.6 percent this year after declining 1.4 percent in 2009.

Gartner predicted spending on computer hardware will grow 5.7 percent to $353 billion in 2010.

“Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010,” Gartner said, adding that while spending by large businesses will also resume growth this year, it will remain below 2008 level through 2014.