SK Hynix announces the development of first 16Gb DDR5 DRAM chips compliant with the JEDEC standard, built using the same 10-nano class process technology behind 8Gb DDR4 DRAM recently developed by the company.

The next-generation DDR5 standard promises increases in both speed and density compared to DDR4, while reducing power consumption. SK Hynix says DDR5 memory consumes 30% less power than DDR4, and features a lower operating voltage set between 1.1 and 1.2 V. In performance terms, the 16Gb RAM claims a data transfer rate of 5200Mbps, 60% faster than 3200Mbps DDR4 RAM. The result, according to the company, is DRAM able to process 41.6GB of data per second.

According to IDC, global spending on technologies and services to enable digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products and organisations is set to reach $1.97 trillion in 2022, with a CAGR of 16.7% over the 2017-2022 forecast period.

"IDC predicts that, by 2020, 30% of G2000 companies will have allocated capital budget equal to at least 10% of revenue to fuel their digital strategies," the analyst says. "This shift toward capital funding is an important one as business executives come to recognize digital transformation as a long-term investment. This commitment to funding DX will continue to drive spending well into the next decade."

Four industries are responsible for nearly 50% of global 2017 DX spending worth $1.25tr-- discrete manufacturing ($220 billion), process manufacturing ($135bn), transportation ($116bn) and retail ($98bn). The top DX spending priority for the discrete and process manufacturing industries is smart manufacturing, with the two industries spending over $1.67bn on smart manufacturing in 2019. The industries will also make "significant" investments in digital innovation ($46bn) and digital supply chain optimisation ($29bn).

EMEA IT spending is to reach $937 billion in 2019, Gartner reports-- a 2% increase over 2018 spending worth $954bn, with the industry set to remain stuck in the region until the unknowns surrounding Brexit are resolved.

“2018 is not a good year for IT spending in EMEA,” the analyst states. "The 5.8% growth witnessed in 2018 includes a 4% currency tailwind driven by the Euro’s increase in value against the US Dollar.”

Spending growth in EMEA is divergent across different segments. For instance, spending on devices (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) will drop in 2019, as consumer PC spending drops by -9.1% in 2018 and business demand for Windows 10 PCs passes the peak in 2019, leading to business PC unit growth of 1%. Similarly, mobile phone unit growth will decline from 4.7% growth in 2018 to a -1.1% decline in 2019 as replacement cycles peak and then fall in 2019.

According to Gartner, customer expectations and competition force retailers to "invest heavily" in digital business transformation-- leading to global retail sector technology spend reaching $203.6 billion in 2019, a 3.6% increase.

The analyst says retail, compared to other industries, used to be a "laggard" in terms of appetite for change, digital maturity and technology spend. But not any more, since retail now surpasses most industries with regard to IT spend. Software is the fastest growing category of technology spending, with retail CIOs prioritising digital marketing, mobile applications, eCommerce platforms and AI, technologies deemed most crucial to their organisation.