CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Global purchases of IT goods and services by businesses and governments will fall 10.6% this year, according to a just-released report. But buying should resume in the fourth quarter, says Forrester Research.

The research firm revised an earlier forecast, which called for a 3% drop worldwide this year. The firm downgraded its US IT outlook to a 5.1% drop, from 3.1% decline. Computer and communications equipment sales will drop 13.5% and 12.4%, respectively, this year, the company said.

In a press release, the firm said, “New data about large declines in business technology investment during the first quarter prompted Forrester to update its forecasts for technology spending.” The company also said now US IT spending should restart in the December quarter.

“While [the] first quarter saw a scary drop in purchases in the US tech market, ironically that is good news for the long run and we expect to see a stronger rebound sooner,” said Forrester analyst Andrew Bartels. “The big drops are not precursors to further declines; rather, we think they are evidence of a temporary pause in US tech purchases, which we expect to start recovering in Q4 as businesses realize that they overreacted in the first quarter.”

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