IT spend to fall even further

Growth in information technology spending next year is expected to reach 1.6 per cent in the US, a substantial drop from previous forecasts.

Forrester Research's current 2009 estimate, released on Tuesday, is down from its previous forecast of 6.1 per cent growth, which was issued prior to the steep drop in IT spending at the close of the third quarter.

In September, Forrester took the unusual step to update its forecast outside of its usual quarterly schedule, noting that 2009 IT-spending growth would fall to 6.1 per cent from previous forecasts of 10 per cent growth.

"Our US tech market forecast now assumes that the...decline in US real GDP in [the third quarter of] 2008 will accelerate in [the fourth quarter of] 2008 and the first half of 2009, before a weak recovery starts", Andrew Bartels, Forrester Research vice president, noted in the report.

Original article: Forrester Research reduces IT-spending forecast from CNET News.com