By Tom Hudson, McClatchy Newspapers –
One business that has been resilient to the tepid economy has been technology. Innovation, productivity and competition have helped drive spending on technology. But next week we may start seeing the limits of the appetite for the latest in high tech.
More than the newest iPhone or tablet, technology spending is expected to surpass more than $3.5 trillion this year, according to research firm Gartner. While that’s 3 percent stronger than this year, the forecast is described merely as stable. A year ago companies and consumer dug into their pockets for tech. Global technology spending jumped 7.9 percent in 2011.
But as the U.S. economy has cooled, more than a half dozen European countries fall into recession and China’s growth cools, spending on technology is coming under pressure. Already, semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices reduced its financial forecast, singling out weaker sales in China and Europe as the main culprits.
In the coming week investors will hear from software giant Microsoft, global semiconductor powerhouses Intel and Qualcomm and technology services colossal IBM. This quartet covers much of the technology landscape from software and smartphones to cloud computing and computer chips. What they are experiencing will be a window into the confidence of both consumers and corporations worldwide.
