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New study predicts huge Web investment
Wednesday, April 25 2001
by Tony O'Brien


A bright future for the dot.com industry has been forecast by a leading market
analyst who predicts investment of over USD5 trillion in the coming years.

In a major survey of e-business, IDC argues that current market assumptions are
wrong and that the dot.com crash is irrelevant. But it does highlight problems
such as mobile access difficulties in the US and problems some e-business
companies have accepting payments over the Web.



The eWorld 2001 Survey was conducted through 27 countries polling the three major
subsections of the e-business:  CIO/IT managers, business executives and
consumers.



Its results challenge the accuracy of current Internet market assumptions and say
the dot.com stock crash has made people lose sight of the fundamental reasons
companies invest in e-business strategies.



"Contrary to recent reports, the Nasdaq's woes in no way mean the end of
e-business," said John Gantz, IDC's chief research officer.



Based on eWorld 2001 findings, IDC forecasts over USD5 trillion will be invested
over the next four years in developing more efficient modes of conducting
e-buisness worldwide.



Saying the dot.com crash is irrelevant, the report predicts companies will spend
more on Web site infrastructure this year alone than they did in five years
preparing for Y2K.



"Although Internet stocks have crashed, dragging most of high tech with them,
this decline is simply part of a cyclical market trend," it declares.



Companies worldwide are still investing with fervor and over the next four years
the number of Web sites will double, e-commerce will increase by a factor of 10
and technology spending on Web applications will escalate four times what it was
in the previous four years.



Saying B2C is not dead, the survey predicts that by 2005 over USD700 billion will
be spent by consumers purchasing goods and services on-line in the US alone.



On mobile access, it says the US is "stuck in the mud," adding that by 2004,
Europe will have twice as many mobile Internet users as America.



It found that while two in five Web sites can take order, less than one in 10 can
handle payments over the Web.



By 2005, it says, over 30 percent of all Internet users will speak English as a
native language while Chinese will come second.