IDC augurs Asian tech spending at $97 b

SINGAPORE: Asian tech spending is forecast to rise by 10 percent in 2005 to $97 billion despite slower economic growth, thanks to burgeoning demand in China and India, research group International Data Corp (IDC) said.

This figure would match the expected 10 percent expansion in information technology (IT) expenditure in the Asia Pacific ex-Japan region for this year, IDC said in a report.

The growth drivers are a 15 percent rise in tech demand in China excluding Hong Kong, and a 22 percent increase in India.

These two markets will account for 42 percent of total IT spending in the region next year, with China being the more dominant with a 33 percent share.

"The high growth product/service market segments in 2005 will be smart handheld devices, IT planning and implementation services, IT training and education, application software and system infrastructure software," IDC said.

On December 7, research firm Gartner Group said tech spending by Asian companies would rise 7.6 percent next year to $208.7 billion, driven largely by demand from India and China.

This is faster than Gartner's forecast 5.4 percent growth, to $1.75 trillion, for technology spending by businesses worldwide next year.

The two research firms use different methodology in their forecasts, explaining the disparity in the numbers.