IDC: IT Spending Will Grow 5.2% Over Next 12 Months
The hardware refresh is underway, software sales are picking up, and service backlogs are building; all that from IDC as they publish the latest FutureScan figures. Judging from the overall trend line, buyer intent is steadily increasing at a faster pace than general market indicators. We look to be in solid recovery mode, with fears of a double-dip recession perhaps not in line with real expectations.
Of course, IT is only one aspect of the overall macro picture, but a very vital one. Looking at our own internals we have to agree with IDC’s estimation, as our model has been producing steady growth into 2010; we intend to build on those numbers Q1 and Q2 2011.
IDC FutureScan: A Mid-Summer Bump as Both Indicators Show Improvement
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., August 11, 2010 – The IDC FutureScan indicators for August both showed improvement over July’s results. Combined, the two indicators nearly match IDC’s latest Black Book forecast of 5.2% growth in U.S. IT spending over the next 12 months. In addition, the Buyer Intent indicator has caught up to the U.S. GDP growth forecast of 3%.
“From what we can see at IDC, there is still a major hardware refresh going on, software sales are starting to pick up, and services backlogs are building even if revenue is not,” said Stephen Minton, vice president, Worldwide IT Markets and Strategies at IDC. “Although the market indicators will continue to be challenged by weak revenue and macroeconomic growth, buyer intent remains healthy. Hopefully this will be enough to sustain the long, slow recovery.”
The Buyer Intent metric for August is 1030, which is up from 1017 in July and slightly higher than the year’s previous high of 1026 in March. For the second month in a row, the Line of Business executives surveyed by IDC had a more optimistic outlook than the CIOs. Both groups raised their outlook for the year ahead, with the CIOs snapping a two-month slide. Buyer Intent reflects market demand for IT products and services over the next 12 months.
The Market Indicators number for August, which combines input from economic and IT industry revenue forecasts, was 1070, up from 1061 in July but still below the 1090 mark set in May. The macroeconomic indicator matched the revenue indicator in August – only the second time this has happened in the six year history of FutureScan.
FutureScan is a set of market metrics that measure supply and demand in the IT industry based on leading indicators and customer surveys. Values reflect expectations of future growth, with an index value of 1000 indicating zero growth and each additional 10 points representing roughly 1% of expected growth or contraction.
FutureScan results for August and prior months can be viewed at www.idc.com/futurescan.
For more information about FutureScan, or any other products from IDC’s Global Research Organization, please contact Michael Shirer at 508-988-7982 ormshirer@idc.com.
