IT market overview
According to IDC estimates, global IT spending increased by 6% in 2011. The biggest drivers of this growth were the software segment, which rose by 6% y-o-y and the storage network and IT services segments, which increased by 3-4% on average. Software spending, the major positive trend for the last year, saw a pickup in strategic investments after the slowdown of 2009-2010. Server and PC spending were the biggest laggards, with the introduction of cloud computing and the start of data migration. IDC believes that in 2011 and going forward, mobile devices and associated apps were and will remain the biggest growth drivers.
The regional breakdown of IT spending was skewed towards the Asia-Pacific region (up 17%), Latin America (up 10%) and the US (up 8%). Emerging economies increased 5-7%, just above the global trend of 6%, while European markets observed zero growth due to the macroeconomic headwinds that plagued the region.