The established G7 markets are unlikely to see a recovery this year, but emerging markets will stay strong, according to IBM.

“If I were in a business model where I needed double-digit growth out of the G7 to drive my performance, I would be in a cold sweat,” said IBM’s CFO, Mark Loughridge, to Thomson Reuters.

“We’re not counting on a resurgence or recovery to achieve our growth for the year,” he said, referring to established markets in the G7 countries – the United States, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany, France and United Kingdom.

“But we are counting on the high-growth markets to continue to grow,” he said, noting that the company enjoyed more than 10 percent growth in 50 countries last year. These markets include Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Poland, Spain and Russia.

… Loughridge downplayed concerns that any slowdown in the developed economies could spread to emerging markets.

Emerging markets are booming – and they don’t have any awkward subprime baggage, says Bill Bonner in The Daily Reckoning. “The MSCI Emerging Market index has gone up four times in the last five years. Compare that to the Dow – which is flat.

“Much of that growth can be traced directly to the boom to the commodities that these countries export — but not all. Some emerging markets — notably China — export neither food, nor fuel, nor raw materials. Instead, they are the biggest importers of these things in the world. In other words, they should be the countries that suffer most when prices rise. Instead, they’re booming too.”