Total IT spending in Australia is expected hit $75.3 billion this year, a 2.9 per cent increase from 2012, according to a Gartner forecast.
Gartner predicted that IT services and telecommunications would comprise most of the IT spending, with $28.7 billion on IT and $26.7 billion on telecom. Device spending, including mobile phones, PCs and printers, was next with $10.7 billion, followed by $6.8 billion on software and $2.3 billion on data centre systems, including servers, storage and network equipment.
The pace of spending growth in Australia is slightly above the worldwide average. Gartner predicted that global IT spending is would reach A$4 trillion in 2013, a 2 per cent increase from 2012.
Last quarter, Gartner had predicted a 4.1 per cent global growth from 2012 to 2013, but the analyst firm said it reduced the forecast mainly due to 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," said Gartner managing vice president, Richard Gordon.
"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."
Gartner noted a continuing decline globally in PC sales in the second quarter, with little recovery expected in the second half of the year. “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 research firm said.
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