However they'll consider it down the road."
IT sales plunge, temporarily?
Forrester Research dramatically adjusted its forecast for Internet technology (IT) spending in 2009, saying it now expects a 10.6 percent decline instead of the 3 percent drop it predicted at the start of the year.
That's for the globe. In the U.S., Forrester expects a 5.1 percent decline, down from the 3.1 percent decline it predicted at the start of the year.
But don't fret -- it's only a "temporary pause," Forrester said.
Spending on technology should pick up in the fourth quarter in the U.S. -- which syncs with Wall Street starting to talk about Microsoft stock hitting $30 again -- and recovery in Europe and Asia in the first half of 2010, the firm said.
"While Q1 2009 saw a scary drop in purchases in the U.S. tech market, ironically that is good news for the long run and we expect to see a stronger rebound sooner," Andrew Bartels, Forrester principal analyst, said in the release. "The big drops are not precursors to further declines; rather, we think they are evidence of a temporary pause in U.S. tech purchases, which we expect to start recovering in Q4 as businesses realize that they overreacted in the first quarter."
Breaking down the global decline, Forrester expects computer-equipment sales to fall by 13.5 percent this year; communications equipment spending to fall 12.4 percent; software spending to fall 8.2 percent; and IT consulting and outsourcing to fall 8.6 percent.
This material has been edited for print publication.
Brier Dudley's blog excerpts appear Thursdays. Reach him at 206-515-5687 or bdudley@seattletimes.com.
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