MidEast IT spend forecast to hit $192bn in 2013

Middle East IT spending is projected to total $192.9bn in 2013, a 5.5 percent increase from 2012, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc.

It said Middle East devices spending is forecast to reach $29.6bn this year, up 7.7 percent from 2012.

Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president and global head of research at Gartner, said: "Devices are represented by mobile phones, media tablets, PCs, and printers, with mobile phones excelling with more than 14 percent spending growth in 2013.

"Mobile phone sales between 2013 and 2016 are forecast to increase 64 percent, reaching $32.7bn," he added.

"IT demand is quite selective in large Middle East organisations. We expect strong IT demand from vertical industries like banking and government in 2013."

He said that as Gulf states continue to develop the non-oil GDP part of their economies, increased reliance on information technology will happen to spur this growth.

In 2013, Middle East software spending is also forecast to grow 7.1 percent over 2012. This segment will be driven by key markets such as security, storage management and customer relationship management.

Gartner said the Middle East's telecom services market continues to be the largest spending market, representing 77 percent of total IT spending in the region in 2013.

Gartner analysts predicted that its growth will exceed five percent in 2013, with mobile voice services reaching $88.5bn and mobile data services at $23.2bn.