Gartner Says Media Tablets Help Drive Worldwide IT Spending Up 5.6 Percent in 2011

Analysts to Examine Latest Outlook for the Global IT Industry During Upcoming Gartner Webinar on April 5

India, Mumbai, March 30, 2011 — Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.6 trillion in 2011, a 5.6 percent increase from $3.4 trillion in 2010, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc. Gartner has slightly raised its outlook for 2011 from its previous forecast of 5.1 percent growth.

Gartner has added media tablets, such as the iPad, to its computing hardware spending estimates beginning this quarter.Including media tablets has increased Gartner’s computing hardware growth outlook from 7.5 percent to 9.5 percent for 2011 (see Table 1). Worldwide media tablet spending is projected to reach $29.4 billion in 2011, up from $9.6 billion in 2010. Global spending on media tablets is forecast to increase at an annual average rate of 52 percent through 2015.

The addition of media tablets, reinforced by an expected additional decline in the value of the dollar, accounts for the increase in top-line growth,” said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. “Absent the addition of media tablets, the forecast would have slightly declined in constant-dollar terms; however, with their addition, there's virtually no change in underlying forecast growth at the level of overall IT.”

Gartner analysts said this stable forecast outlook comes despite political unrest in the Middle East, while the impact on IT markets of the recent natural disasters in Japan is yet to be fully understood.

“The Middle East share of global IT spending is approximately 2 percent. While the political unrest affecting many countries in the region may well dent IT spending levels, any impact would be insignificant at the global level,” Mr. Gordon said. “We had largely completed our forecast by the time the recent natural disasters in Japan occurred, and we are still evaluating their likely impact on our forecast. On this point, we are looking at two potential effects on IT markets as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan: consequences of disruptions in the global electronics supply chain and impacts on IT demand.”

Table 1

Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)

Source: Gartner (March 2011)

More-detailed analysis on the outlook for the IT industry will be presented in the Gartner webinar "IT Spending Forecast, 1Q11 Update.” The complimentary webinar will be hosted by Gartner on April 5 at 11 a.m. Eastern time. To register for the webinar, please go to http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=1577914&ref=Webinar-Calendar.

Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Forecast Alert: IT Spending, Worldwide, 1Q11 Update" athttp://www.gartner.com/resId=1610027. The report provides more details on Gartner's outlook for the IT industry through 2014.

The Gartner quarterly IT spending forecast delivers a unique perspective on IT spending across hardware, software, IT services and telecommunications segments. These reports help Gartner clients understand market opportunities and challenges. The most recent IT spending forecast research is available at www.gartner.com/quarterly-it-forecast. This Quarterly IT Spending Forecast section includes links to the latest IT spending reports, webinars, blog posts and press releases. Mr. Gordon also provides additional comments on the Gartner YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/Gartnervideo?feature=mhum.

Additional analysis around media tablets in the enterprise is available in the Gartner Special Report titled “iPad & Beyond: The Media Tablet in Business” at http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/ipad-media-tablet/. More detailed analysis focused on the impact of natural disasters such as the Japan earthquake and tsunami on the IT industry is available in the Gartner Special Report ”Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity” at http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/business-continuity/.

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,400 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.