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10 January 2011 ,
Written by Dhruv Tanwar
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Gartner has forecast worldwide IT spending to total $3.6 trillion in 2011, 5.1 percent more than 2010 when it totaled $3.4 trillion, up 5.4 percent from 2009 levels.
"Aided by favorable U.S. dollar exchange rates, global IT spending growth is expected to exceed 5 percent in 2010, but a similar level of growth in 2011 — while forecast — is far from certain, given continued macroeconomic uncertainty," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.
Gartner said that the telecom equipment market is poised for the strongest growth in 2011, with worldwide telecom equipment spending forecast to grow 9.1 percent. It revised its forecast upwards after strong sales of mobile devices in the third quarter of 2010, driven by smartphones in mature markets and white box devices in emerging markets, as well as stronger local currencies.
The firm forecast the computing hardware segment to grow 7.5 percent in 2011, though Gartner analysts said vendors face possible challenges, particularly in the area of PC growth, given likely weak economic growth through the first half of 2011. |