Gartner: IT spending in 2009 will be worse than 2001's decline

Gartner on Tuesday cut its IT spending forecast for 2009 to $3.2 trillion, down 3.8 percent from 2008 as consumers and businesses throttle back amid the economic downturn. 

In a statement, Gartner said that the 2009 slowdown will be "worse than the 2.1 percent decline in IT spending in 2001 when the internet investment bubble burst."

The forecast also makes no assumptions that IT spending will improve. Government stimulus packages aren't likely to help and customers aren't going to push replacement cycles with tight budgets. 

Here's the overview:

Take 2009 spending with a heavy dose of salt. Why? Tech buyers have monthly budgets at best with some lacking fully baked 2009 spending plans even with a quarter of the year gone.