EMC sees Asia corporate tech spending returning

HONG KONG (Reuters) - EMC Corp, the world's top data storage equipment maker, expects corporate technology spending in Asia to rise by a double-digit percentage next year, as companies step up buying with the easing of the global downturn.

"What we're seeing is this transition underway -- that contraction is substantially slowing or turning positive," Steve Leonard, president of EMC Asia Pacific and Japan, told Reuters in an interview.

"Whereas companies were contracting or spending less, they're back to a reasonable level of spending ... I see Asia going back to a double-digit growth rate in the year ahead in terms of spending on technology," he said.

In July, EMC reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and issued a full-year forecast for the first time this year, after breaking with tradition and failing to provide such guidance earlier in the year because of insufficient visibility on corporate spending.

The positive signals came in the wake of similarly encouraging statements from technology giants such as IBM and Intel, which indicated the worst of the recession was behind them.

(Reporting by Doug Young; Editing by Chris Lewis)