• ZDNet, Friday, January 7, 2011 1:49 PM

Gartner has raised its global IT spending forecast to $3.6 trillion in 2011 -- up 5.1% from 2010, reports ZDNet. Gartner's previous outlook called for IT spending growth of 3.5% for 2011. For 2010, Gartner said the official global IT spending tally was $3.4 trillion -- up 5.4% from 2009.

Gartner had projected IT spending growth of 3.2 percent for 2010. The research firm, however, said that devaluation of the U.S. dollar is largely responsible for boosting its forecast. "Of the 2.2 percent spread between its forecast and what actually happened with IT spending, 1.6 percent of [sic] boosted by the weak dollar against other currencies," ZDNet writes. This year, the telecom equipment market is expected to best all sectors -- with 9.1% growth -- thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. Tied for second place -- with 7.5% projected growth -- computing hardware and enterprise software; followed by IT services -- with a projected 4.6% growth; and telecom services -- with a projected 3.4% growth for this year.

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