Out-Law News 1 min. read

Mixed forecasts for IT and consumer tech spending in 2014


Analysts have predicted modest growth in global IT expenditure in 2014, but sales of technology products are set to fall, according to predictions from the Consumer Electronics Association.

Gartner said that global IT expenditure is set to reach $3.8 trillion this year, up 3.1% on the 2013 figures. Forrester Research predicted, though, that global IT sales would grow by more – at 6.2%. Forrester's figures do not include any forecasts of spending on telecoms services. Gartner predicted just a 1.2% rise in telecoms services spending in 2014.

Both market analyst companies said that business software purchases would be strong in 2014.

"Enterprise software spending growth continues to be the strongest throughout the forecast period," Gartner said in a statement. "The 2014 annual growth rate is expected to grow 6.8%."

Andrew Bartels, of Forrester's Business Technology Futures team, added: "Business and government purchases of software will post the fastest 2014 growth (7.8% in US dollars, 7.1% in local currency terms) of any tech category, followed by IT consulting and systems integration services (7.3% in US dollars, 6.6% in local currencies)."

"The strength of software reinforces the position of the US tech market, because the US represents almost 50% of global software purchases," he said. "IT outsourcing and hardware maintenance will be weak in 2014 due to smaller deals and widespread discounting."

Forrester predicted that the Chinese IT market would grow 10.5% this year, according to a report by ZDNet. The anticipated spending of $124.5 billion would place China as the third largest market for IT expenditure in the world, behind the US and Japan, it said.

However, the Consumer Electronics Association told the Financial Times that it was anticipated a 1% decline in sales of consumer technology products in 2014.

"We’re waiting for the next wave of innovation to help lift it again,” said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis at the Consumer Electronics Association, according to the newspaper.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.