Europe Lags behind US in Tech Spending

The rate of recovery in tech spending in the US is going to be twice the rate of Western and Central Europe next year as America steps out of recession quicker.

Europe has been experiencing a deep recession and with the problems originating in the US those factors have pointed to the recovery starting on the other side of the Atlantic first before spreading to the UK and the rest of Europe.

According to Forrester research the US will see a 8% increase in technology purchases next year compared to 4% in Western and Central Europe with €297bn being spent this year in Europe with the major countries all seeing drops ranging for IT goods and services from 12% here in Britain to 3% in France and Germany in 2009.

In the Forrester report, European IT market outlook 2009 to 2010, the analyst Andrew Barels, said that the market for IT goods and services would decline in Europe by 6.3% this year and would be slow to recover: "In both regards it will lag behind the US tech market, which will have a smaller drop in 2009 and stronger growth in 2010."

"The main reason? The European economic recession has turned ouyt to be deeper than the US recession, with Europe's downturn starting later and probably lasting into 2010 . All categories of IT purchases will be down, with computer equipment and communications equipment being especially weak," he stated in the report.

There have already been sings that the US economy has stablised with plenty of CEOs and financial officers making that call in statements accompanying recent financial results. But in Europe only Germany and France have officially recently come out of recession with the UK still lagging behind.