Apple to benefit from improved hardware spendingSeptember 24, 2003 - 15:19 EDT Signs of growth are gradually emerging in the US computer hardware industry, according to a reported released Wednesday by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. A full recovery, however, is "dependent upon growth in corporate spending," which could also help Apple's outlook. "Dell, Apple, and IBM are all expected to be early beneficiaries of IT spending improvement," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Martha Toll-Reed. "The prognosis for HP is less clearly positive and more dependent upon management execution, while revenue improvement for Sun and Silicon Graphics is expected to lag behind other hardware companies rated by Standard & Poor's."