BANGALORE: The market is expected to grow by 11 percent over the prior year, in constant US dollar terms, and will be worth $81 Billion in 2003, the market research firm said. According to IDC, hardware segments such as PCs, low and mid-range servers, and LAN hardware are expected to rebound compared to their weak performance in 2002. Converged hand-held access devices and Networked Attached Storage will grow rapidly in 2003. Digital imaging and printing will also have a stellar year as digital cameras and digital photography become mainstream. Wireless LANs will gain significant traction in enterprises and location-specific public ‘hotspots’ will mushroom in the region. Growth in software will be driven via modular implementation and by software that simplifies operations. Resource optimization, virtualization, and the need for enhanced security/business continuity will also drive market growth. Linux adoption will increase and Linux clusters will also compete with Unix in the high-performance computing space. The slow and steady transformation towards a services oriented IT market structure will continue. The focus will be more on smaller projects in 2003. The top Indian services companies will ride the wave of ‘cost-cutting’ and will emerge on the global scene to challenge the incumbents. "The telecommunications services industry in the region will continue its growth momentum driven by deregulation and pent-up demand in the developing countries. This market will grow by 11 percent over the prior year to $137 billion. VOIP services will gain traction and will be seriously evaluated by organizations in 2003" said Singh. "Broadband will continue to proliferate, driven by lower prices, competition and the exploding on-line gaming phenomenon in the region", he added. IDC also expects a number of significant milestones to be passed over the next 12 months. By the end of the year, there will be more than 100 million PCs and 400 million cellular phones installed in the Asia/Pacific region, outside of Japan. There will be more than 165 million Internet users and 25 million mobile Internet users in the region by the end of 2003.