Malaysia IT sector to grow 6.5% in 2010: IDC

I / Kuala Lumpur January 28, 2010, 14:20 IST

According to Malaysian technological research firm IDC, the country's information technology (IT) industry is expected to grow 6.5 per cent this year, rebounding from a 1.3 per cent decline last year.

IT spending is likely to cross the USD 6 billion mark this year, with hardware spending expected to return to a positive note, it said in its annual "Top 10 Predictions of the Malaysian Information and Communications Technology Industry (ICT)".

"In terms of market movements, IDC foresees the impact of the global economic crisis in 2009 to drive new synergies and dynamics in the local market, bringing fundamental transformation and growth to the industry in 2010," said IDC Asean software research manager Roger Ling at a media briefing here yesterday.

According to Ling, 2009 saw an unprecedented year-on-year decline for the applications market that traditionally sees not only a strong year-on-year growth but contributes to a large chunk of the packaged software market.

The Malaysian telecommunications industry is also expected to rebound strongly this year, with a growth of 4.4 per cent over 2009 while reaching a total of USD 6.7 billion for the year, said IDC Asean telecommunications research manager Lincoln Lee.

"Growth in telecommunications spending is anticipated to come largely from the wireless market," he told the media briefing.