After moderate growth of 3.3 percent in 2023, Gartner analysts expect IT spending to grow significantly by 6.8 percent by 2024.

The PC market struggled in 2023 and should emerge from a slump in 2024. After a sharp decline (-8.7%), the sector needs to recover (+4.6%). To achieve this, it is relying, among other things, on AI PCs, which will be brought into the spotlight en masse this year, combined with a renewal year for many PCs that were purchased in the Corona year 2020.

All other sectors grew in 2023 and will continue to grow in 2024:

Last year, Gartner predicted IT spending would rise 8 percent. This growth is currently being moderated, but growth of 6.8 percent in 2024 is the largest growth in years.

AI is trending, but is not the most important factor for strong growth. For the first time, the IT services market will be larger than the communications services that have traditionally been at the forefront. Spending on software continues to rise, as does spending on data center systems.

Gartner emphasizes that consumer IT spending has been capped for years. “It is the companies that are increasingly turning to technology. IT is no longer the back office, but the front office. She is responsible for sales.” According to Gartner, as long as these sales continue to grow, there is no plateau in sight.

The analyst firm warns of the phenomenon Change fatigue. “CIOs hate new contracts and are increasingly focused on long-term projects. An important trend with long-term potential is generative AI, but its impact on IT budgets will remain limited.”

This year, many organizations will be examining how they want to invest in generative AI. That’s why most IT spending in 2024 will still be driven by traditional applications.