Market analysis: Industry to grow 10.4% in 2011 to $74.4 billion despite June woes

Market research group Gartner Inc., has estimated software spending in 2011 hit around $44.7 billion despite June's 10 percent drop in spending reported by NPD.

According to Gartner, via Zaks Equity Research, total spend on software will hit 60.4 percent for the year, and will continue to grow for the next five years garnering two-thirds of consumers’ gaming budgets.

The firm expects the industry to grown by 10.4 percent to $74.4 billion compared to $67.0 billion in 2010.

Spending on gaming hardware and online gaming are expected to reach $17.8 billion and $11.9 billion, respectively, in 2011.

By 2015, Gartner expects retail spend on gaming to hit $112.0 billion with 50.4 percent ($56.5 billion) of that figure spent on software.

"We also believe that the tremendous success of online social gaming will further change the dynamics of the video game industry going forward," said Zacks Equity Research in a Yahoo Finance note.

"We believe that the social gaming market is well positioned for continued growth, primarily attributable to its casual, social and interactive environment compared to the more conventional platforms."