IT spending will increase by 2.7 percent in 2017

Gartner has tweaked its IT spending predictions for 2017, and now says the three percent increase in spending is not exactly realistic. It's going to be less -- 2.7 percent to be exact, which is still a positive prognosis, keeping in mind we're talking about growth.

The reduced spending is mostly to blame on the "wait-and-see" approach many companies are taking, caused by political and economic uncertainty.

In total, Gartner believes $3.5 trillion will be spent on IT technology this year, mostly on new technologies like cloud or AI. Software will be dominating the spending, while hardware will "remain flat".

"2017 was poised to be a rebound year in IT spending. Some major trends have converged, including cloud, blockchain, digital business and artificial intelligence. Normally, this would have pushed IT spending much higher than 2.7 percent growth", says John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "However, some of the political uncertainty in global markets has fostered a wait-and-see approach causing many businesses to forestall IT investments".

Spending on PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones is expected to remain flat -- at $589 billion. Growth is expected in 2018, as the replacement cycle draws closer, and premium ultramobiles become more tempting.

"Emerging markets will drive the replacement cycle for mobile phones as smartphones in these markets are used as a main computing device and replaced more regularly than in mature markets,” Gartner adds.

For more details, make sure to tune into the IT Spending Forecast webinar, taking place January 17, at 11am EST.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Future plc Publication. All rights reserved.

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