Worldwide IT spending is expected to accelerate next year after dipping to its slowest pace of growth since the financial crisis in 2013. This is according to the just released International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Black Book.
The IDC report says overall tech spending is on course to increase by 4% this year at constant currency, reaching $2.04 trillion, down from last year's growth of 5% due mainly to the slowdown in key emerging markets including China and Russia. IDC forecasts that in 2014, a rebound in China and continued momentum in the US and Europe will see a return to overall industry growth of more than 5% reaching $2.14 trillion.
The report further notes that almost half of this year's industry growth is due to continued strength in smartphone and tablet shipments. Excluding mobile phones, IT spending will increase by only 2.6% this year at constant currency. Enterprise IT spending in many regions has been tepid since last year, with weaker spending on PCs, servers and storage than previously expected, says IDC.
Tentative signs of stability in commercial PC shipments during Q3, however, may foreshadow the gradual recovery in enterprise infrastructure investment which is expected to unfold in the next 12 to 18 months as a broad-based capital spending cycle kicks into gear. Spending on servers, storage and enterprise networks will increase by just 1% in 2013 before accelerating to growth of 4% next year.
"This has been a tough year for many IT vendors, with infrastructure spending in the first half of 2013 proving weaker than previously expected," says Stephen Minton, VP in IDC's Global Technology & Industry Research Organization. "The overall industry has been propped up by continued strength in mobile devices, especially smartphones, but the slowdown in emerging markets was another headwind for infrastructure-focused tech firms on top of government sequestration in the US and continued sluggish growth in Europe."
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