Middle East IT spending to reach $213bn this year

Middle Eastern IT spending will reach $212.9bn in 2016, up 3.7 per cent from last year, according to Gartner.

The firm’s senior vice president and head of global research Peter Sondergaard said there would be positive IT growth in the region despite some economic uncertainty in world markets.

“The substantial industrial refocusing to generate new economic development beyond the oil industry, with deepening smart cities initiatives and adoption of the Internet of Things, is of utmost importance in this region. We are witnessing priorities for smart city governments in education, transportation, safety and health,” he said.

Devices are expected to account for 19 per cent of total Middle Eastern IT spending, with tablets and PCs accounting for $8bn of sales in 2016 and $10bn in 2018. Mobile sales are forecast to grow from $30bn this year to $37bn in 2019.

Business and IT services will represent 84 per cent of the IT services sector, Gartner said, while enterprise application software will see the most significant growth in the software sector. Elsewhere, the data centre market was expected to see relatively flat growth in 2016.

Gartner predicted the overall IT market will hit $242bn in 2019.

Last month, IDC predicted that regional IT spending would be hit by oil prices volatility. The firm said it had lowered its spending forecast from around 4-5 per cent to about 3 per cent.

IDC predicted ICT spending this year would reach $103bn, with IT accounting for roughly $44.5bn.

(Gartner, March 2016)