IT Industry will be Back on Track in 2010 in Terms of Growth: Hewlett Packard Co.

The Chief Executive Mark Hurd of Hewlett Packard Co told an audience at the company’s yearly analyst meeting on Thursday that IT industry is going to witness growth during the year 2010. The IT spend is expected to bounce back during the next fiscal year. The company further stated that many technology companies are looking forward for a new cycle of corporate hardware that is expected to begin next year, as large companies are going to replace old machines with the latest equipment.

HP forecast earnings, excluding items, of $4.20-$4.30 per share on revenue of $117 billion to $118 billion in fiscal 2010. That indicates the operating margin of 11.4% to 11.6 %. HP projects revenue growth in its services division of 2-4 percent, and growth of 3-5 percent in its PC business during the year of 2010.

The views of HP chief in terms of IT expenditure is echoed by other major companies too. On Thursday, McAfee Inc. CEO Dave Dewalt told Reuters he can foresee the rise of technology spending from the next year. On the contrary, Blackberry maker RIM is very cautious. They predict that the company revenue may fall short in forecast after the holiday season

The diversified business model and reliable revenue structure of HP helped the company to withstand the heat of economic downturn. HP last year acquired EDS in a huge $13 billion deal that transformed the company into the No. 2 provider of IT services, behind only IBM.

“The PC rebound is primarily going to be driven by strong retail notebooks, which is HP’s sweet spot, and that bodes really well for them,” the chief executive further said. “Their services margin will continue to improve and I think they’re managing the EDS integration well.”