Analyst Gartner has increased its forecast for worldwide IT spending in 2013, revising its Q3 2012 figure up from 3.8 per cent growth to 4.2 per cent higher than last year’s figure. The analyst is now forecasting that worldwide IT spending will hit $3.7 trillion in 2013. Much of this spending increase is down to projected gains in the value of foreign currencies versus the dollar, said Gartner, noting that when measured in “constant dollars”, 2013 spending growth is predicted to be 3.9 per cent.

“Uncertainties surrounding prospects for an upturn in global economic growth are the major retardants to IT growth,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, in a statement. “This uncertainty has caused the pessimistic business and consumer sentiment throughout the world. However, much of this uncertainty is nearing resolution, and as it does, we look for accelerated spending growth in 2013 compared to 2012.”

Gartner’s forecast for worldwide devices spending — which includes PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers — is expected to reach $666 billion in 2013, up 6.3 per cent from 2012. Despite this rise, the forecast is a “significant reduction” on Gartner’s previous 2013 outlook forecast of $706 billion in worldwide devices and 7.9 per cent growth. The analyst noted that its long-term forecast for worldwide spending on devices has been reduced as well, with “growth from 2012 through 2016 now expected to average 4.5 per cent annually in current US dollars (down from 6.4 per cent) and 5.1 per cent annually in constant dollars (down from 7.4 per cent)”.

Gartner said these reductions reflect a “sharp reduction” in the forecast growth in spending on PCs and tablets that’s only partially offset by “marginal increases” in forecast growth in spending on mobile phones and printers. The analyst also noted that increased competition from cheaper Android powered tablets has contributed to the reduction in its devices spending forecast.

“The tablet market has seen greater price competition from Android devices as well as smaller, low-priced devices in emerging markets,” Gordon noted in a statement. “It is ultimately this shift toward relatively lower-priced tablets that lowers our average selling prices forecast for 2012 through 2016, which in turn is responsible for slowing device spending growth in general, and PC and tablet spending growth in particular.”

Enterprise software has the highest projected growth in IT spending for 2013, according to Gartner, which is forecasting growth of 6.4 per cent and 2013 spending of $296 billion.

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