IT spend to soar

March 30: Spending in information technology worldwide is expected to rise 4.1 per cent to $3.8 trillion in 2013 from $3.6 trillion in 2012 on the back of a stable currency, research firm Gartner has said.

In the following year, IT spending will maintain its growth at 4 per cent to reach $3.9 trillion.

“Although the US did avoid the fiscal cliff, the subsequent sequestration, compounded by the rise of the Cyprus debt burden, seems to have netted out any benefit, and the fragile business and consumer sentiment throughout much of the world continues,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice-president at Gartner.

“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,” he said.

Spending in devices such as personal computers, tablets, mobile phones and printers is projected to touch $718 billion in 2013, a growth of 7.9 per cent over 2012.

In the short term, spending in printers will witness a modest decline, while that on PCs will be flat. However, spending in premium mobile phones is set to witness a big boost. This has resulted in an upward revision in the devices sector growth for 2013, higher than the earlier mentioned 6.3 per cent.