IT spending to rise just 2 percent this year, says Gartner
The new forecast is down from the prior projection of 4.1 percent, due largely to changes in U.S. dollar exchange rates.
Global IT spend will likely hit $3.7 trillion this year, inching up just 2 percent from 2012's $3.6 trillion, research firm Gartner said Tuesday.
The latest forecast for 2013 spending is down from the 4.1 percent growth predicted by Gartner last quarter. The decline is based primarily on recent changes to exchange rates for the U.S. dollar. However, spending on technology devices is also projected to take a nosedive.
Gartner now expects spending on IT devices to grow just 2.8 percent, a hefty fall from the prior forecast of 7.9 percent. The first quarter's drop in PC sales continued into the second quarter, with no recovery eyed for the rest of 2013. New devices will debut during the second half of the year, though they won't be enough to prop up the weak PC market, according to Gartner.
On a brighter note, tablet sales are expected to grow by 38.9 percent this year, while sales of mobile phones are forecast to rise 9.3 percent.
"Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth," Gartner managing vice president Richard Gordon said in a statement. "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."
The data tracks sales to enterprises of various IT products and services, including tech devices, data center systems, enterprise software, IT services, and telecom services.