US losing grip on IT industry

Scandinavia and Europe give the Yanks a good kicking

By Kieren McCarthy • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 23rd August 2000 12:03 GMT

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Europe is leading the way when it comes to cutting-edge technology, with the US playing catch-up, according to analysts IDC. Perhaps a little behind the times, IDC quotes wireless technology as one example (well, actually the only example) of where Europe is kicking ass (or arse, depending on where you live).

It does, however, come up with some pretty good figures. Some of the best are:

Sweden has overtaken the US when it comes to percentage of GDP spent on IT (UK is third)
Switzerland, Denmark and Norway have largest IT spend per capita
Followed by Sweden and Finland
Worldwide IT spending to reach $975.5 billion this year
Hardware still accounts for 42 per cent IT spend in the US, but is 38 per cent for Western Europe and 32 per cent for the UK (this is seen as an indication that more work is being done on Internet technology etc.)

So there you go, we're the best. Of course, what these figures don't really draw attention to is that percentages are a very misleading way of representing money. Would you rather have 20 per cent of a tramp's income or 2 per cent of a rich man's income? One would give a playboy lifestyle, the other, a copy of Playboy. ®

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