Worldwide spending on information and communications technology (ICT) will be nearly $4.0 trillion in 2018, according to new data from IDC (www.idc.com).
The explosive growth of smartphones in recent years means that consumer spending will account for the largest proportion of that total, but growth will be driven by enterprise spending on cloud, software and infrastructure related to third platform solutions, according to the research group.
IDC says the consumer market will account for more than $1.5 trillion in ICT spending in 2018 and will deliver more than one third of all worldwide spending throughout the forecast. Consumer spending will also experience the slowest growth over the forecast period with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 1.2%. Roughly 80% of consumer spending will go to devices and mobile telecom services.
Banking, discrete manufacturing, telecommunications, and professional services will be the four largest industries for ICT spending in 2018 at more than $900 billion combined. IDC says that, while all four industries will invest heavily in applications, infrastructure, outsourcing, and telecom services, spending levels will vary depending on industry needs.
For example, banking will invest the most in IT outsourcing and project-oriented outsourcing ($115 billion combined) while telecommunications spending will be led by infrastructure purchases ($85 billion). Professional services and banking will experience the fastest growth in ICT spending with five-year CAGRs or 5.9% and 5.2%, respectively.