According to Gartner's latest forecast, global IT expenditure will reach 3.9 trillion US dollars in 2020, an increase of 3.4% over 2019. Global IT spending is expected to break through the $4 trillion mark in 2021.

Gartner believes that the fastest-growing major market this year will be software, which will achieve double-digit growth of 10.5 per cent.

By 2022, corporate IT spending on cloud products will grow faster than traditional (non-cloud) IT products. Enterprises spend a high proportion of IT on cloud adoption, which heralds a new generation of revolutionary business models.

In addition, the adverse effects of a stronger dollar have threatened IT spending in affected countries on general equipment and data centre equipment. John-David Lovelock, Vice President of Outstanding Research at Gartner, said: "for example, mobile phone spending in Japan will decline this year because of the rise in the US dollar and the increase in the average price of mobile phones in Japan. Spending on personal computers, printers, servers and even external storage systems in the UK is also expected to fall by 3 per cent. "

Although there was the biggest decline in the equipment market in all areas last quarter, the overall equipment market will return to growth in 2020 as new, cheaper phones become popular in emerging countries. "equipment spending in Greater China and the emerging Asia-Pacific region increased by nearly $10 billion, which is more than offset by expected declines in Western Europe and Latin America," said Lovelock.