Global IT spending to hit $3.7 trn in 2018 on AI, blockchain boost: Gartner

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Global IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018 - an increase of 4.5 per cent from 2017, market research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.

"Global IT spending growth began to turn around in 2017, with continued growth expected over the next few years. Uncertainty looms as organisations consider the potential impacts of Brexit, currency fluctuations and a possible global recession," John-David Lovelock, Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

"Projects in digital business, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and progression from big data to algorithms to Machine Learning (ML) to Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to be main drivers of growth," Lovelock added.

Worldwide software spending is projected to grow 9.5 per cent in 2018 and it will grow another 8.4 per cent in 2019 to total $421 billion.

Organisations are expected to increase spending on enterprise application software in 2018, with more of the budget shifting to software as a service (SaaS).

Driven by end-user spending on mobile phones, the devices segment is expected to grow 5.6 per cent in 2018.

Witnessing an increase of 5.7 per cent, the devices segment experienced growth for the first time in two years in 2017.

Notably, the impact of iPhone 8 and iPhone X was minimal in 2017. However, iOS shipments are expected to grow 9.1 per cent in 2018.

Meanwhile, PC growth is expected to be flat in 2018 even as continued migration to Windows 10 OS is expected to drive positive growth in the business market in China, Latin America and Eastern Europe.