Gartner revises its 2013 global IT spending forecasts from 4.1% to 2% growth-- spending will reach $3.7 trillion (up from $3.6tr for 2012) due to a still declining PC market and fluctuations in US dollar exchange rates.
"Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth," Gartner says. "Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered. However, W. Europe's constant-currency growth has been inched up slightly as strategic IT initiatives in the region will continue despite a poor economic outlook."
According to the analyst devices spending will grow by just 2.8%, with little recovery expected for H2 2013 as new devices fail to offset the decline in PC sales.
Tablet revenues should grow by 28.9% and mobile phones by 9.3%.
Enterprise software spending growth is forecast to 6.4% as CRM coverage expands to e-commerce, social and mobile while software-as-a-service (SaaS) and changing device demands hit traditional models and markets.
On the other hand telecom service spending will remain flat (0.9%) with fixed broadband showing "slightly higher than anticipated" growth and the impact of voice substitute moves faster in the consumer segment than enterprise.