Broadband equipment helps boost business IT spend in US

Figures from the US show companies' investment in broadband and local area network (LAN) infrastructure is increasing, leading one analyst to suggest the economy may be in recovery mode.

Stephen Baker, vice-president of industry analysts at NPD Group, explains that purchasing hardware allows organisations to strategise for the future in a sensible way.

"Business investments in infrastructure are an encouraging sign for the overall economy," he says.

Mr Baker adds that purchases of networking products are an indication that "small and medium businesses are putting the technology backbone in place" to attain growth and profit in the recovering economy.

The figures show a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent in sales of network switches and routers - typically used to distribute high-speed broadband across the company LAN - in 2010.

While enterprise IT spending is on the increase, NPD Group noted earlier in the year that holiday spending on consumer electronics products in the US declined by five per cent over the 2010 festive season.