U.S. Spends Big Money On E-Commerce

Compiled ByEric J. Merfalen According to IDC's recent Worldwide Internet Commerce Spending Market Map, the United States spent $80.5 billion on e-commerce in 1999. In fact, the U.S. far outspent Japan, the second largest spender, which spent only $13.5 billion. This huge fiscal gap can be primarily attributed to the advanced IT structure of the U.S. Last year alone the U.S. spent $385 billion on IT while Japan only spent $90 billion. IDC also found that the U.S. shipped over four times the amount of PCs (43.8 million) than Japan (10.6 million) and nearly 10 times that of China (4.8 million), the world's most populous country. IDC's recent study depicts a variety of e-commerce information aspects including the worldwide distribution of Internet commerce spending and the annual value of server and single-user systems shipped as of Jan. 1, 2000. It also compiled population data, GDP information, IT expenditures, and the value of single-user systems and servers for a variety of countries. IDC is a Framingham, Mass.-based provider of technology intelligence, industry analysis, and market data. The complete map can be purchased from IDC by contacting Lloyd Cohen at 508/935-4333.