March 24, 2006 || New report:

Worldwide IT Spending Will Climb

Worldwide IT spending will jump 6.3 percent in 2006 with growth strongest in the software market at 7 percent.

Hardware and services are both expected to post overall growth of 6 percent this year, according to IDC. Overall IT spending in Western Europe is set to reach 6 percent this year, while growth in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), will jump 9 percent. In the US, overall growth in 2006 will be 5.8 percent, a slight decline from the 6.4 percent expansion of 2005. However, India and China are predicted to have double digit growth, with 21 percent and 14 percent gains respectively.

Anna Toncheva, IDC analyst, said the global economy will remain stable and robust with marginal changes in growth compared to 2005. “Although the engines of acceleration will rotate towards Japan and Europe, China and the US will remain at the helm,” she said. “Given the increased focus on productivity and innovation during the current cycle, IT investments will dominate replacement spending in gross investment in the developed economies.”

IDC predicts the strongest growth will be posted in network equipment, outsourcing services and system infrastructure software, including security tools. The firm also expects there to be greater momentum in project-based spending and key application areas including business intelligence and content management.