Port Washington, N.Y. – Purchases of IT equipment for more than half of all small and medium businesses are expected in the next 12 months, according to The NPD Group’s SMB Quarterly Tech Monitor.
Overall, 57 percent of the businesses surveyed reported their intent to buy tech equipment in the next 12 months, up 4 percent from the last quarter, NPD said.
Short-term spending will be a bit lighter, with only 44 percent of businesses showing intent to make a purchase in the next three months, up 13 percent from the previous quarter.
“Small and medium businesses of all sizes expressed their intent to increase spending in both the short and long-term. As is typical, a businesses’ normal tendency is to limit spending in the short term, yet be more optimistic about their spending plans over a 12-month period,” said Stephen Baker, NPD industry analysis VP. “With continued robust sales growth in NPD’s distributor and commercial channel tracking services, where we saw revenue increase 9 percent in the first quarter, it is clear that intention and action are not always in sync.”
NPD said the highest spending firms of all sizes used improving business conditions and ongoing staff additions to justify higher than average expected increases in spending.
Current pricing opportunities and planned upgrades, however, delivered very little incremental spending for both above and below average spending firms.
“This makes sense because companies spending more than the average are likely viewing their purchases more holistically. They understand that hardware is not just about price, and there is tremendous value in internal corporate consistency and reseller support that enables them to maximize the benefit from their hardware spends,” Baker said.