Global IT spending expected to fall 3 percent in '09

IT spending worldwide is expected to slip 3 percent this year, with computer makers taking the brunt of the decline, according to a Forrester Research report released Tuesday.

Global IT spending is predicted to drop to $1.66 trillion this year, marking the first time in seven years the industry has not grown, according to the report, which used U.S. dollars as its form of measurement.

"Our forecast for 2009 rests on the assumptions that the economic recession in the U.S. and other major economies will start to end in the second half of 2009," Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research principal analyst, said in a statement. "For IT vendor strategists, the global IT market will be a gloomy one in 2009, with prospects of improvement in 2010. Unlike in past years, there are no significant growth markets to offset the weak ones."

Spending on computer equipment is expected to drop 4 percent this year to $434 billion. The sector includes such items as personal computers, servers, storage devices, and peripherals.

The software sector, by contrast, is expected to suffer less with spending anticipated to come in at roughly the same level as last year, the report noted. Software spending is expected to come in at $388 billion this year.

A recent Goldman Sachs report also predicted that software spending will remain flat this year in the Americas.

Communications equipment, as well as IT services and outsourcing, are expected to fall 3 percent this year over the previous year, according to Forrester.

The IT services and outsourcing sector, which includes consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing services, is expected to generate $484 billion this year, according to the report.

Communications equipment, meanwhile, is expected to come in at $353 billion in 2009.