Sign of a progressive country is when you see the amount it spends on technology infrastructure, in the case of Malaysia, our IT spend continues to be on the upward trend with this year forecast to reach RM70.2 billion an increase of 7.3% over 2016. According to Gartner, comparatively, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.5 trillion, a 2.7 percent increase from last year.

Worldwide devices spending (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) is projected to remain flat in 2017 at $589 billion. A replacement cycle in the PC market and strong pricing and functionality of premium ultramobiles will help drive growth in 2018. Emerging markets will drive the replacement cycle for mobile phones as smartphones in these markets are used as a main computing device and replaced more regularly than in mature markets.

The worldwide IT services market is forecast to grow 4.2 percent in 2017. Buyer investments in digital business, intelligent automation, and services optimization and innovation continue to drive growth in the market, but buyer caution, fueled by broad economic challenges, remains a counter-balance to faster growth.

Malaysia IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars)