IT spending worldwide to rise to $1.48 trillion by 2010

End users around the world spent $1.16 trillion on information technology in 2006, and they will increase IT spending at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3 percent to reach $1.48 trillion in 2010, a newly updated IDC forecast on worldwide vertical market IT spending says. In the latest study IDC presents an analysis of vertical market IT spending and opportunities across the regions where IDC maintains a research presence. Highlights from the study include the following:

• Worldwide software spending is expected to reach $327 billion in 2010, reflecting a five-year CAGR of 7.7 percent. The largest markets are discrete manufacturing, the services industries, and government. The fastest-growing markets are healthcare, communications, and government
• Worldwide hardware market spending is set to recover in the 200610 period, reaching $562 billion in 2010. IDC sees rising spending on volume servers, peripherals and storage, and networking equipment across regions. It is driven mainly by the robust spending from the home business and consumer, communications, and government sectors
• IDC expects spending on IT services worldwide to reach $587 billion in 2010, reflecting a CAGR of 5.8 percent from 2005 to 2010. The largest market opportunities reside in government, banking, and discrete manufacturing.