The latest Gartner forecast is a downgrade from earlier of estimates of 4.1 per cent.
Gartner’s managing vice president Richard Gordon said the downgrade is as a result of recent fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate.
“Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth. Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered,” he said.
Gordon however pointed to constant currency growth in Western Europe, which he attributes to the increase in strategic IT initiatives in the region despite a poor economic outlook.
Enterprise software will see the biggest growth in spending - at 6.4 per cent - although telecom services will remain at the top, with US$1.655 trillion worth of spending.
“Telecom services spending is forecast to grow 0.9 per cent in 2013. Fixed broadband is showing slightly higher than anticipated growth. The impact of voice substitution is mixed as it is moving faster in the consumer sector, but slightly slower in the enterprise market,” read a statement from the company.
Other large data consumption will be on IT services and devices, both of which will see a spending of US$926 billion and US$695 billion respectively.