FRAMINGHAM, Mass., September 30, 2004 IDC today announced the latest FutureScan results for the month of October. Buyer Intent, which reflects market demand for IT products and services, is 1041, down from 1085 in September. The Market Indicators number, which combines input from economic and IT industry supply-side indicators, increased to 1073, up from 1032 in September.
"One factor driving the market indicators upward this month is that the stock market has recovered from its spike in March," said Stephen Minton, vice president, Global IT Markets and Strategies. "With worries over oil prices, Iraq, and tech sector profit warnings persistently present, the stock market has been comparatively flat over the past several months."
October's results indicate that although user spending expectations have cooled, the market continues to show signs of improvement. Revenue forecasts for IT vendors have stopped plummeting and are beginning to climb back up. IT spending is expected to continue growing over the next 12 months, but at a moderate pace of almost 7%.
"Both line of business executives and CIOs are more conservative in their current spending expectations than we have seen over the past few months," commented Carol Glasheen, vice president of IDC's Quantitative Research Group. "The summer optimism has faded slightly and with budgeting season in full swing for many companies, we are seeing more convergence in their views of the next 12 months."
FutureScan is a set of market metrics that measure supply and demand in the IT industry based on leading indicators and customer surveys. Values reflect expectations of future growth, with an index value of 1000 indicating zero growth and each 10 points representing roughly 1% of expected growth or contraction.
FutureScan results for October and prior months can be viewed at www.idc.com/futurescan.
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