Global IT spending is predicted to rise 4.1% in 2013 to $3.8 trillion compared to $3.6 trillion spent in 2012, according to a new report from Gartner.
Gartner managing vice president Richard Gordon said although the US did avoid the fiscal cliff, the subsequent sequestration, compounded by the rise of Cyprus’ debt burden, seems to have netted out any benefit, and the fragile business and consumer sentiment throughout much of the world continues.
"However, the new shocks are expected to be short-lived, and while they may cause some pauses in discretionary spending along the way, strategic IT initiatives will continue," Gordon said.
The report also projects that global spending on PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers would reach $718bn in 2013, reporting a 7.9% rise over 2012.
Gartner research vice president John Lovelock said the steady growth rates are a calm ocean that hides turbulent currents beneath.
"The Nexus of Forces — social, mobile, cloud and information — are reshaping spending patterns across all of the IT sectors that Gartner forecasts," Lovelock said.
"Consumers and enterprises will continue to purchase a mix of IT products and services; nothing is going away completely.
"However, the ratio of this mix is changing dramatically and there are clear winners and losers over the next three to five years, as we see more of a transition from PCs to mobile phones, from servers to storage, from licensed software to cloud, or the shift in voice and data connections from fixed to mobile."
Gartner is also forecasting enterprise software spending to reach $297bn during the year, up 6.4% increase from 2012.
