Global IT spending grew 0.6% in 2019.
Economic uncertainty remains high, but spending remains robust.
Cloud plays a big role in extending the lifespan of consumer devices.

Gartner has released its latest forecast for global IT spending in 2019.

According to Gartner, global IT spending is expected to total $3.74 trillion in 2019, a 0.6% increase from 2018. This figure is slightly lower than the previous quarter's forecast of 1.1%.

“Despite growing uncertainty due to recession rumors, Brexit, trade wars and tariffs, IT spending is expected to remain flat in 2019,” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

“While there are significant differences in country-by-country figures, virtually every country Gartner surveyed will see IT spending increase in 2019,” he said. “Despite the ongoing tariff war, North American IT spending is expected to grow 3.7% in 2019, while China’s IT spending is expected to grow 2.8%.”

He also said, “While the likelihood of a recession in 2019 or 2020 is low, the risk is high enough that we must prepare and plan for it,” adding, “Technical executives and product managers should plan in advance to optimally deploy their product portfolios through a product mix and operating model when a recession hits.”

Meanwhile, the enterprise software market is expected to see the strongest growth in 2019, reaching $457 billion, up 9% from $419 billion last year.

CIOs are shifting from internal to external capabilities. We are continuously rebalancing our technology portfolio as we shift our investments.

Meanwhile, spending on IT products and services in Korea is expected to reach 78 trillion won in 2019, a 3.5% increase from the previous year, and is projected to reach 88 trillion won in 2022.

Cloud computing is expected to become mainstream within the next few years, exerting a greater influence on corporate IT decision-making than ever before. This will particularly impact system infrastructure. Prior to 2018, cloud computing was relatively widely used for application software and business process outsourcing. However, as this forecast develops, the cloud's influence will expand to include application software, encompassing office suites, content services, and collaboration services.

“Spending on older technology segments like data centers will continue to decline,” Lovelock said.

Globally, consumer spending as a percentage of total spending is declining year over year in all regions. This is especially due to the saturation and proliferation of PC, laptop and tablet devices.

Cloud applications allow new software to run on lower-performance devices, extending the life of these devices.

As a result, the device market is expected to see the largest decline, with spending expected to drop 4.3% year-over-year to $682 billion in 2019.

“There will be few new buyers in the device market, meaning the market is largely driven by replacements and upgrades,” said Lovelock. “Consumer technology spending will continue to decline as devices age longer and smart home technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) become more prevalent.”