The Economic Times Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Japanese hi-tech spending to stay flat REUTERS TOKYO: HI-TECH spending in Japan in 2002 is expected to be almost flat from last year at 12.39 trillion yen ($93.37 billion) due to firms' reluctance to splurge on hardware, research firm International Data Corp said on Monday. Such spending in 2001 edged up 0.7 per cent to 12.38 trillion yen led by demand for information technology services and software needed for corporate cost cutting, IDC data showed. IDC expects companies to spend 4.5 trillion yen on hardware this year, down 10 per cent from 2001. According to IDC estimates, spending on information technology will not recover until at least the second half of 2002. But that also largely depends on an upturn in the US economy and the speed of bad-loan disposals in the troubled banking sector, it said. Demand for IT in 2001 was also strong for security-related services and back-up storage in the wake of the September 11 attacks. But a sharp drop in consumer appetite for hardware hampered growth, IDC said. Reuters Copyright � 2001 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.
