Strategic Tech Slideshow: SMB IT Budgets are Earmarked for Software, PCs

U.S. SMBs

2012 IT spending by U.S.-based SMBs will account for 25 percent of all SMB spending around the world.

10 Percent

SMBs operating in the U.S. will account for 10 percent of all IT spending globally across all business sizes.

$138 billion

IDC expects SMBs to spend $138 billion on IT this year.

PC Purchases

Small businesses will spend nearly twice as much as mid-sized firms -- and slightly more than large enterprises -- on computers and accessories in 2012.

Notebooks and Tablets

SMBs will be most interested in acquiring notebooks and tablets this year, though the IDC research doesn't indicate which brands.

$50 billion

SMBs will spend $50 billion on packaged software, helping that market segment capture one third of total SMB IT spending forecast for the year.

$38 billion

IT services will account for one-quarter of all SMB IT spending -- about $38 billion.

Big Versus Small

By comparison, large enterprises plan to spend half of their IT budgets on IT services this year.

Systems and Storage

Virtualization will lead to a slowdown in total SMB spending across "systems and storage," according to IDC's study. The company doesn't say how much it expects spending to decline in that sector.

No Networks

More than one-third of all U.S.-based SMBs have yet to deploy networks. Large enterprises typically spend millions of dollars in networking infrastructure.