European IT spending will fall in 2012, says Gartner
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Analyst company downgrades IT spending predictions in light of Euro crisis and Thai floods
IT spending in Western Europe will shrink by 0.7% in 2012, according to the latest estimates from Gartner.
The analyst company attributed the decline to "the eurozone crisis causing uncertainty for both businesses and consumers" in the region.
Gartner also downgraded its growth prediction for global IT spending in 2012, down from 4.6% to 3.7%. It expects total IT spending to reach $3.8 trillion.
As well as the Euro crisis, spending growth will be adversely affected by the recent floods in Thailand, an important hub for the hard-drive manufacturing industry.
"We estimate the supply of hard drives will be reduced by as much as 25% (and possibly more) during the next six to nine months," said research vice president Richard Gordon. "Rebuilding the destroyed manufacturing facilities will also take time and the effects of this will continue to ripple throughout 2012 and very likely into 2013."
Telecommunications equipment is predicted to be the fastest growest segment of the IT industry in 2012, with 6.9% growth to $475 billion. Enterprise software will be the second fastest, with 6.4% growth to $285 billion.
According to a survey of CIOs in both Europe and the US conducted by Swiss bank last year, 38% of European organisations and 35% of US organisations have seen projects delayed or cancelled or their budgets cut as a result of of the Euro crisis.
