Gartner downgrades 2013 worldwide IT spending forecast

Gartner has revised down its worldwide IT spending forecast for the year by 2.1 percentage points, blaming recent fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate.

The figures are created by Gartner through tracking sales of IT products and services to the enterprise.

The market watcher had previously predicted IT spending growth in US dollars at 4.1 per cent for 2013, but now expects $3.7 trillion to be spent on IT across the globe this year.

This is still slightly up on last year's worldwide IT spending figures, though, which topped $3.7 trillion.

The analyst also revised down the amount it expects to be spent on devices in 2013 from 7.9 per cent to 2.8 per cent, as the decline in PC sales continues on.

"While new devices are set to hit the market in the second half of 2013, they will fail to compensate for the underlying weakness of the traditional PC market," the organisation said.

The tablet market will continue to blossom, with revenue expected to grow by 38.9 per cent, while mobile phone revenue is tipped to increase 9.3 per cent this year.

Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, said: "Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth.

"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."

Enterprise software spending was another bright spot in an otherwise downbeat forecast from Gartner, with the firm predicting growth of around 6.4 per cent for this area of the market.