U.S. business purchases last year exceeded pre-recession levels, driven mostly by sales of computers, software and network storage products, with total business sales rising to 12 percent in 2010 to $59 billion, reversing a 9 percent decrease in 2009, according to a study by The NPD Group, a consumer research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.

“Business investments in infrastructure are an encouraging sign for the overall economy,” said NPD vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker. “Spending on IT products, especially, has traditionally been a way for businesses to invest in future company growth in an efficient and scalable manner. Spending on product segments such as software and network products indicate that small and medium business are putting the technology backbone in place that will enable them to deliver profitable growth as the economy improves.”

According to NPD, hardware spending increased 18 percent to $38 billion, with small and medium businesses contributing much of the growth through investments in new computers and other infrastructure products. By comparison, hardware spending declined 10 percent in 2009.

PC sales alone surged 33 percent to $6 billion, with unit sales increasing 27 percent, according to the study.

Business software sales, especially for Windows 7 and Windows Office 2010 licenses, swelled 12 percent to $4.2 billion, compared with a 6 percent drop the previous year.

Networking storage product sales, which did rise in 2009, continued to grow to more than $1 billion in 2010. Sales of networking routers and switchers rose 25 percent to almost $7 billion.

In contrast, sales of commercial office and printing supplies remained below 2008 levels, declining 2 percent in 2010. However, that was an improvement from a 6 percent decrease in 2009, and NPD said business trends improved during the fourth quarter.

Special Reports /

IQ: U.S. Business Purchases Top Pre-Recession Levels in 2010

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