Gartner Inc. sharply cut its forecast for global technology spending next year, seeing a drop in spending in Western Europe and a slim rise in the United States.

The company, whose forecasts are closely watched by investors, said that information technology spending could rise only 2.3 percent in 2009, with businesses cutting back as the economic crisis spreads. Gartner had previously forecast 5.8 percent growth in IT spending next year.

"Developed economies, especially the United States and Western Europe, will be the worst affected, but emerging regions will not be immune," Peter Sondergaard, Gartner's senior vice president and head of research, said in a statement.

Gartner now expects 2009 IT spending to decline 0.8 percent in Western Europe, according to slides from a presentation that Sondergaard made at a conference in Orlando, Fla. The firm had previously forecast spending to grow 2.8 percent in the region.

It expects spending would rise 0.5 percent in North America, a sharp decline from its previous forecast of 5.3 percent growth. It is looking for a spending increase of 8.3 percent in the Asia Pacific, down from a forecast of 11 percent growth.

By: DocMemory
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