Worldwide IT spending is to rise by 2pc to US$3.7trn this year, according to new figures from Gartner.
This is a revised forecast by 2.1pc from the original 4.1pc growth forecast due to recent exchange rate fluctuations. Growth in constant currency is forecast at 3.5pc of 2013.
“Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice-president at Gartner.
“Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered. However, Western Europe’s constant-currency growth has been inched up slightly as strategic IT initiatives in the region will continue despite a poor economic outlook.”
Device spending down 7.9pc
The forecast for spending on devices in 2013 has been revised down from 7.9pc growth in Gartner’s previous forecast to 2.8pc. The decline in PC sales, recorded in the first quarter of 2013, continued into the second quarter with little recovery expected during the second half of 2013.
While new devices are set to hit the market in the second half of 2013, they will fail to compensate for the underlying weakness of the traditional PC market. The outlook for tablet revenue for 2013 is for growth of 38.9pc, while mobile phone revenue is projected to increase 9.3pc this year.
Enterprise software spending to grow 6.4pc
Enterprise software spending is on pace to grow 6.4pc in 2013. Growth expectations for customer relationship management (CRM) have been raised to reflect expanded coverage into e-commerce, social and mobile. Expectations for digital content creation and operating systems have been reduced as software as a service (SaaS) and changing device demands impact traditional models and markets.
Telecom services spending is forecast to grow 0.9pc in 2013.
Fixed broadband is showing slightly higher than anticipated growth. The impact of voice substitution is mixed as it is moving faster in the consumer sector, but slightly slower in the enterprise market.
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