Global IT spending is projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% to reach $1.48 trillion in 2010, a market research firm says.

Broken down by segment, worldwide software spending is expected to reach $327 billion in three years, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 7.7%, International Data Corp. said Wednesday. The hardware market is projected to reach $562 billion by 2010, driven mainly by "robust" spending from the home business and consumer, communications, and government sectors. Specifically, IDC sees more money spent on volume servers, peripherals, storage, and networking equipment worldwide.

Companies also are expected to increase spending on IT services at a compound annual growth rate of 5.8% to reach $587 billion at the end of the decade, IDC said. Sectors expected to have the highest demand are government, banking, and discrete manufacturing.

The spending projections are contained in an IDC study called Worldwide IT Spending, 2006-2010 Forecast Update by Vertical Market: North America, West Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.