Worldwide IT spending is on pace to total $3.8 trillion in 2014, a 3.2 percent increase from 2013 spending, as the global economy continues to show signs of a gradual recovery, according to a report from IT research firm Gartner.
Telecom services spending is projected to grow 1.3 percent in 2014, with spending reaching $1.655 trillion.
However, the report noted fixed voice services continue to decline from substitution effects occurring somewhat faster than previously anticipated, affecting the balance of wireless-only households in important markets, including Japan.
Another factor is the migration of enterprise lines due to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking (the use of voice over IP (VoIP) to facilitate the connection of a private branch exchange (PBX) to the Internet).
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Data center systems spending is projected to reach $143 billion in 2014, a 2.3 percent increase from 2013. In terms of enterprise network equipment trends, cloud and mobility are the biggest demand drivers, the report noted.
"Globally, businesses are shaking off their malaise and returning to spending on IT to support the growth of their business," Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner, said in a statement. "Consumers will be purchasing many new devices in 2014; however, there is a greater substitution toward lower cost and more basic devices than we have seen in prior years."
In addition, IT services is forecast to total $964 billion in 2014, up 4.6 percent from 2013, as buyers shift spending from consulting (planning projects) to implementation (doing projects), and Gartner analysts expect steady growth in the IT services market as the economic outlook, and along with it investment sentiment, improves.
"The Nexus of Forces (the convergence of social, mobile, cloud and information) continues to drive growth across key major software markets, such as CRM, database management systems (DBMSs), data integration tools and data quality tools," Gordon continued. "In fact, organizational adoption of data management technologies to support the Nexus will cause spending on DBMSs to surpass operating systems, making the former the largest enterprise software market in 2014."
The devices market, which includes PCs, ultramobiles, mobile phones and tablets, is forecast to return to growth in 2014, with worldwide spending of $689 billion, a 4.4 percent increase from 2013.
Meanwhile, demand for highly priced premium phones is slowing, with buyers in mature countries preferring midtier premium phones, while those in emerging countries favor low-end Android basic phones. The number of traditional PC users is contracting to a set of fewer, albeit more engaged, users, the report said.
