As usual, all eyes were on Google, which Thursday reported profit of US$1.97 billion, up dramatically from $382 million at the same time last year, when earnings were brought down in part by one-time charges from a decline in value of investments. Fourth-quarter revenue at the search giant rose by 17 percent to $6.7 billion.

Though the numbers looked good, investors were apparently hoping for more from the tech superstar, and its share price dropped in after-hours trading. Google shares have also been hit lately by concerns about its threat to pull out of China and doubts about its ability to enter the hardware-sales business with its Nexus One phone.

But Google's results, along with solid financial reports from other vendors, are backing up expectations for the year.

IT spending globally will rise by 4.6 percent from last year to hit $3.4 trillion in 2010, according to a forecast issued Thursday by Gartner, the latest market researcher to say that 2010 will be a year of growth for technology. The prediction does not come close to the double-digit growth rates experienced during the dot-com bubble, but it is a vast improvement over 2009, when worldwide IT spending dropped by 4.6 percent, Gartner said.

All major segments of IT, including hardware, software, services and telecom, are forecast to grow this year, Gartner said.