China passes Japan to become world's 2nd largest IT market

China overtook Japan in information technology spending in 2013 to become the world's second largest IT market, according to market research firm IDC.

The US remains the largest IT market the world, still more than three times the size of China. But China's IT spending is increasing by double digits, and technology industry investment is a high priority there. China's IT spending increased by 8.3 percent in 2013, nearly double that of the US, and is forecast to further grow by 14.1 percent in 2014, said Frank Gens, chief analyst at IDC. The clearest evidence of China's interest in building a technology market is its development of the world's fastest supercomputer, topping the Top 500 list. China's overall IT spending is projected to hit $204 billion in 2014, versus $686 billion in the US, said Gens. US IT spending grew 4.7 percent in 2013, and is forecast to rise by 3.8 percent in 2014. China's IT spending will increase by $25 billion in 2014, the same dollar increase as in the US. "It's going to be quite a while before it (China) closes the gap" with the US, said Gens, who expects China's IT growth rate to slow as it grows. In 2013, China's IT spending will total $179 billion, beating Japan's $173 billion by $5 billion. In the global market, IDC expects global IT spending to rise by 5.1 percent next year to over $2.1 trillion. The 2014 forecast for the global IT market would have been higher -- 5.6 percent -- if not for the steep decline in PC sales, said Gens.