By Tom Hudson of Nightly Business Report
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 the research firm Gartner.
While that’s 3 percent stronger than this year, the forecast is described merely as stable. A year ago companies and consumers dug into their pockets for tech. Global technology spending jumped 7.9 percent in 2011.
But with the economy in the United States sputtering, more than a half-dozen countries in Europe falling into recession and growth in China cooling off, spending on technology is coming under pressure.
Already, semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices has 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.
Tom Hudson is anchor and managing editor of Nightly Business Report, produced by NBR Worldwide and distributed nationally by American Public Television. In South Florida, the show is broadcast at 7 p.m. weekdays on Channel 2. Follow him on Twitter, @HudsonNBR.