Information technology (IT) spending in South Africa is forecast to grow by 2.4% year-on-year to R266-billion for this year, technology research firm Gartner has revealed.
Software is predicted to be the best- performing segment, with a 13.2% year-on-year increase.
“South Africa has traditionally underinvested in IT and South African organisations continue to prioritise investments in software, as software spending is how they will catch up with the rest of the world,” Gartner VP John David Lovelock said in a statement published last week.
He pointed out that spending on devices in South Africa was forecast to decline by 4.6% in 2017.
Purchases of devices by businesses and consumers were slowing in the face of rising prices and in the expectation of new products; however, 2018 is set to be a rebound year.
“Price competition between regional carriers, along with extremely price-sensitive consumers, is preventing substantial growth in spending in this segment, despite an overall increase in mobile device ownership,” he said.