Gartner projected that global IT spending will increase by 10.8% year-over-year in 2026 to reach $6.15 trillion (approximately 8,961 trillion won).

With expanded investment centered on AI infrastructure driving the increase in overall IT spending, spending on data centers and servers is expected to show notable growth.

Gartner announced its global IT spending forecast containing these details in Seoul on February 9, 2026. According to the announcement, IT spending is projected to increase from $5.5553 trillion in 2025 to reach $6.1554 trillion in 2026.

Investment in AI infrastructure is driving the expansion of data center system spending. Data center system spending this year is expected to surpass $650 billion, a 31.7% increase from the previous year's level of approximately $500 billion. Among these, server spending is projected to lead the growth, increasing by 36.9% year-on-year.

John David Lovelock, Senior VP Analyst at Gartner, stated, “Despite concerns about an AI bubble, AI infrastructure growth remains rapid as spending expands across AI-related hardware and software.”

Software spending is expected to maintain high growth potential, although the growth forecast has been partially adjusted. The growth forecast for software spending, including application and infrastructure software, was slightly lowered from 15.2% to 14.7%.

However, analyst LoveLock said, “Total software spending will exceed $1.4 trillion,” adding that “the growth forecast for spending on generative AI models remains at 80.8%.”

On the other hand, the device market is expected to see a slowdown in growth. While shipments of smartphones, PCs, and tablets remain stable, the growth rate of device spending is projected to fall to 6.1% in 2026.

Lovelock, an analyst, analyzed that consumer replacement demand is shrinking due to the increase in average selling prices resulting from rising memory prices, and that supply shortages in the low-end market are limiting the growth of shipments.