Information technology spending this year will grow faster than previously forecast, boosted by strong demand for new telecom gear and for computing hardware, research firm Gartner said on Thursday.

Gartner said it now sees the global IT market growing 7.1 percent this year to $3.672 trillion. It had earlier forecast 5.6 percent growth this year.     

The IT services segment, led by IBM , HP and Fujitsu , will see growth accelerating from the previous year, with the market growing 6.6 percent to $846 billion, Gartner said. - Reuters