A new survey reports that IT spending is hitting a historic low levels with no glimmer of
resurgence coming in the near future. ChangeWave Research said 39 percent of companies
polled have spent less than planned in the current fourth quarter, a drop of nine
percentage points from an August survey.
Just six percent of enterprises are spending more in the fourth quarter than they
planned, a four point decrease since August. Nearly half, 48 percent said IT budgets will
be even smaller in the second half of 2009.
The dire tech expenditure analysis reflects macroeconomics that have businesses
slashing costs and reducing headcount. ChangeWave said the figures are the worst ever IT
spend projections since 2001.
“The numbers are horrific,” said Paul Carlton, director of research, in a Web
conference today
about the survey results.
“The current quarter is at historic lows and there is no indicator that spending will
get any better any time soon,” he said.
The one stellar aspect is that smartphone sales remain robust and healthy, according
to the survey. Research In Motion is maintaining its market lead, and Apple is forging
inroads into small to medium-sized businesses, according to ChangeWave.
The research firm surveyed 1,926 tech leaders involved with IT spending during this
month. The ChangeWave Alliance (parent company of ChangeWave Research), conducts surveys
every quarter of its 15,000 members, who are senior technology and business executives in
leading companies in select industries.
The November spending analysis
exceeded downward projections made by ChangeWave earlier this year. Back in August,
the research firm estimated that 29 percent of companies would cut or stop IT spend.
Going into next year, 45 percent of respondents said IT spending will decrease during
the first quarter — which ChangeWave called “unprecedented.” The results reflect a drop
of 16 points from the August poll. Only 10 percent report that spending will increase in
the first quarter.
But tech pursue strings are quite loose when it comes to smartphones, as 35 percent
said they will buy smartphones at the beginning of next year, a one percent increase from
the August poll.
RIM, while dropping one percent, will benefit the most as 78 percent respondents plan
to buy BlackBerry devices. Apple’s iPhone is gaining more traction as 22 percent aiming
to bring the popular device into their organization — an increase of five percentage
points from the August survey.
According to ChangeWave, RIM’s corporate share is heavily concentrated among larger
companies, those with over 1,000 employees, while three-quarters of Apple’s share is
among small-to-medium sized companies, those with less than 1,000 employees.
ChangeWave’s results
are in tandem with a recent IDC report that showed smartphones showing double digit
growth over last year. Device makers shipped 306 million units during the second quarter
of the year — up 5.6 percent from last quarter and a 15.3 percent increase from the
second quarter of 2007.
Article courtesy of InternetNews.com
