SMBs in the APAC region are predicted to spend US$95.8 billion on information technology upgrades in 2008 with China, India, South Korea and Australia leading the pack, according to a recent survey.

This amount is a 14 per cent raise from the previous year, said US-based Access Market International (AMI) Partners Inc, which defines small and medium-sized businesses as commercial enterprises with a maximum of 1,000 employees.

The combined spending of China, India, South Korea and Australia is forecast to account for more than 70 per cent of total IT spending in the region.

India will be the fastest growing major market with IT spending set to increase more than 20 per cent in 2008 to US$9.6 billion, said Nishant Dave, a Singapore-based research director.

Banking, financial services and manufacturing were cited as driving the growth in the businesses' spending in India.

Overall, 2008 is expected to be a strong growth year for the IT investments of businesses in the region, offering new opportunities for IT vendors, suppliers and service providers, said Dave.

Nearly 36 per cent of IT spending by medium-sized businesses will be on computing hardware which includes personal computers, servers, printers and other related hardware, AMI said and another 30 per cent will be spent on IT services.

-Deutsche Presse Agentur