IDC: Worldwide ICT Spending to Rise Steadily in 2020

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts worldwide spending on information and communications technology (ICT) will reach $4.3 trillion in 2020, an increase of 3.6% over 2019. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based market researcher says commercial and public sector spending on information technology (hardware, software and IT services), telecommunications services, and business services will account for nearly $2.7 trillion of the total in 2020 with consumer spending making up the remainder.

“The slow economy, weak business investment, and uncertain production expectations combined with protectionist policies and geopolitical tensions — including the US-China trade war, threats of US tariffs on EU automobiles and the EU’s expected response, and continued uncertainty around the Brexit deal — are still acting as inhibitors to ICT spending across regions,” said Serena Da Rold, program manager in IDC’s Customer Insights and Analysis group. “On the upside, our surveys indicate a strong focus on customer experience and on creating innovative products and services driving new ICT investments.”

IT spending is expected to make up more than half of all ICT spending in 2020, led by purchases of devices (mainly mobile phones and PCs) and enterprise applications. However, when combined, the three IT services categories (managed services, project-oriented services, and support services) are predicted to deliver more than $750 billion in spending this year as organizations look to accelerate their digital transformation efforts. The application development & deployment category will provide the strongest spending growth over the 2019-2023 forecast period with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 11.1 percent.

Telecommunications services are expected to represent more than one third of all ICT spending in 2020. Mobile telecom services are predicted as the largest category at more than $859 billion, followed by fixed telecom services. Both categories will see growth in the low single digits over the forecast period.

Top verticals include banking, discrete manufacturing, professional services, and telecommunications, which are expected to deliver 40 percent of all commercial ICT spending in 2020.

IDC’s Worldwide ICT Spending Guide Industry and Company Size is IDC’s flagship all-in-one data product capturing IT spending across more than 120 technology categories and 53 countries.

Channel Impact^®
While the projected growth rates for 2020 are not exceptionally high, the data provide some meaningful predictions for ways in which channel partners will continue to prosper in the current year.