IT heading for the trillion-dollar barrier

The global IT market is shaping up to be worth $1.3tr (£720bn) by the end of 2009, with banking, manufacturing and government set to be the biggest tech spenders, research has found.

According to a report from analyst firm IDC, the communications and media industry will also make a significant contribution to vendors' coffers at the end of the decade. Total spend by the industry will grow from $95bn this year to $128bn in 2009, with storage and networks among key investments.

Telecoms firms will also step up their spending with the advent of new technologies such as 3G, and as they look to switch their networks to run over IP.

The consumer and financial services industries will also prove lucrative for tech vendors, with the latter looking to spend on infrastructure in particular.