Forecasters expect tech spending to slow

Weakness in the US economy figures to take a bite out of the technology industry’s growth rate in 2008, when analysts expect tech spending to slow around the world.

The picture is not exactly dire: A forecast released today by the analyst firm IDC calls for the worldwide information-technology market to grow 5.5 percent to 6 percent in 2008, the lower end of what has become a usual range. In the United States, the market is expected to expand 3 to 4 percent.

Those growth rates would be softer than this year’s 6.9 percent worldwide and 6.6 percent US growth rates.

Other firms differ on precise numbers but also see a slowdown coming.

Gartner Inc.’s most recent estimates, compiled in October, see US technology spending rising 5.7 percent, down from 6.1 percent this year. Gartner pegs worldwide growth at 5.5 percent, down from 8 percent.

Forrester Research Inc. is still finalizing its worldwide forecast, but research analyst Andrew Bartels expects the US market to grow 4.6 percent, down from 5.4 percent. He said that presumes an economic slowdown in the United States that stops short of becoming a recession.
(AP)