Global IT spending on pace to grow 3.2% in 2014

The global economy showing signs of a gradual recovery, worldwide IT spending is expected to rise 3.2 per cent from that a year ago to total $3.8 trillion in 2014.

The devices market (including personal computers, ultramobiles, mobile phones and tablets) is forecast to return to growth in 2014, with worldwide spending of $689 billion. This is a 4.4 per cent rise from 2013, according to research and analysis firm Gartner's Worldwide IT Spending Forecast.

However, in top-line spending, a shift in the product mix continues to be seen in the marketplace. Demand for highly-priced premium phones is slowing, with buyers in mature countries preferring mid-tier premium phones, while those in emerging countries favor low-end Android basic phones.

"Globally, businesses are shaking off their malaise and returning to spending on IT to support the growth of their business. Consumers will be purchasing many new devices in 2014; however, there is a greater substitution toward lower cost and more basic devices than we have seen in prior years,'' said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner.

The Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast is an indicator of major technology trends across hardware, software, IT services and telecom markets.

The number of traditional personal computer users is contracting to a set of fewer, albeit more engaged, users. In general, consumers are opting to buy premium ultramobiles as notebook replacements and purchasing tablets as additional devices. As market power shifts to the buyer, and key product innovations become ubiquitous, product pricing is becoming the primary differentiator.

Data centre systems spending is projected to reach $143 billion in 2014, a 2.3 per cent rise from 2013. In terms of enterprise network equipment trends, cloud and mobility are the biggest demand drivers.

In the enterprise software market, spending is on pace to total $320 billion, a 6.9 per cent increase from 2013. The enterprise software market is the fastest-growing segment in 2014.

"The Nexus of Forces (the convergence of social, mobile, cloud and information) continues to drive growth across key major software markets, such as CRM, database management systems (DBMSs), data integration tools and data quality tools," Gordon said.

"In fact, organisational adoption of data management technologies to support the Nexus will cause spending on DBMSs to surpass operating systems, making the former the largest enterprise software market in 2014,'' he added.

IT services is forecast to total $964 billion in 2014, up 4.6 per cent from 2013. IT services buyers are shifting spending from consulting (planning projects) to implementation (doing projects), and Gartner analysts expect steady growth in the IT services market as the economic outlook, and along with it investment sentiment, improves.

Telecom services spending is projected to grow 1.3 per cent in 2014 to reach $1.655 trillion. Fixed voice services continue to decline from substitution effects occurring a bit faster than previously anticipated, affecting the balance of wireless-only households in important markets, such as Japan, as well as the migration of enterprise lines due to Session Initiation Protocol trunking (the use of voice over IP to facilitate the connection of a private branch exchange (PBX) to the Internet).

Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)