Business confidence levels declined in the last week of May, according to the latest update to the IDC COVID-19 Tech Index. IT buyers in the U.S., Western Europe and some parts of Asia/Pacific indicated that they now expect total IT spending to decline by more than previously anticipated. This is in spite of a general stabilization in other market indicators over the past month, as many countries prepare to tentatively move into a gradual recovery phase.

Confidence levels are still especially weak in the U.S., where they have continued to trend down since the crisis began. U.S. firms are a little more confident about the overall economy than two weeks ago, but conversely less confident about their own IT budgets for the year as a whole.

Significant spending declines are predicted for traditional technologies including PCs, peripherals, software applications, and project-oriented IT services. Survey results also deteriorated in Europe, especially in France, Italy, and Russia.

Click here to read the full press release, which includes a table and graphic illustrating the evolution of the COVID-19 Tech Index scores over the past three months.