• by Chuck Martin , March 11, 2020

The coronavirus is causing a significant slowdown in spending on technology, according to a new forecast by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Based on data indicators in the first quarter, with slowed spending on hardware and software, technology spending could grow by 1%, down from the original forecast of more than 4%, by the end of 2020.

"The situation is extremely fluid," stated Stephen Minton, vice president in IDC's customer insights and analysis group. "Our monthly data and surveys are clearly pointing in one direction, but it's still early to understand the full impact of the coronavirus crisis across all sectors of the economy. The duration of the crisis remains a big unknown and will go a long way in determining overall market growth for the year."

High spending was originally forecast due to PC sales in the fourth quarter and the smartphone upgrade cycle driven by the rollout of 5G cellular services.