Does '09 compare to the dot-com bust?

Okay, so the tech sector is suffering in this current recession. But most analysts have said it's not nearly as badly as the dot-com bust of 2001 and 2002--until now. Earlier this week, the line of reasoning changed when Gartner predicted that 2009 will be worse than 2001. Gartner described the current economic turbulence as a "bleak outlook near-term," according to PCWorld.

So far, Gartner is the only analyst out on this limb. Forrester's Andrew Bartels, the company's principal analyst, insists that the market is going down but not nearly as badly as it was during the dot-com bust.

"IT is down, just not to the same degree (as 2001-2002). We see 2009 as worse than we thought it would be in December, but we don't see it getting worse than we're predicting now," Bartels told PCWorld. "The difference is that the decline today is for two or three quarters, not the two to three years we saw in 2001 and 2002."

And Bartels did have some words of encouragement: "In Q4 2009 we might see some early signs of recovery. Certainly by 2010 we'll start to see some better numbers."

For more on the state of the IT economy:
- check out this PCWorld.com article

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