Thought Leadership
Driven by AI infrastructure: Spending on data center systems is projected to surge by 55.5 percent. Memory prices have more than doubled.
Worldwide IT spending will reach 7.35 trillion US dollars in 2027, according to a forecast by market research firm Gartner. This represents an increase of 15 percent compared to 2026 and would mark the first time that spending surpasses the 7-trillion-dollar threshold. For 2026, Gartner expects 6.39 trillion dollars, an increase of 14.5 percent. The forecast was presented at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Orlando.
IT Spending: Data Centers Growing the Fastest
According to Gartner, spending on data center systems is increasing the fastest: following a 73.8 percent jump in 2026, it is set to rise by another 55.5 percent to 1.37 trillion dollars in 2027. For Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Gartner anticipates growth of 25.7 percent to 367 billion dollars, and for software 14.6 percent to 1.68 trillion dollars. Growth is significantly slower for devices at 8.1 percent to 916 billion dollars, IT services at 4.9 percent to 1.63 trillion dollars, and communication services at 2.9 percent to 1.39 trillion dollars.
According to Gartner, the next trillion dollars in spending growth is primarily driven by AI infrastructure and AI software, including AI-optimized servers, AI-optimized IaaS, and AI software platforms. At the same time, AI infrastructure is developing into an asset class funded by hyperscaler investments, private capital, and partly by technology vendors themselves, said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.
Memory Prices More Than Doubled
Demand for data center systems has more than doubled memory prices over the past twelve months. According to Gartner, these cost increases are cascading throughout the supply chains for storage systems, servers, network equipment, PCs, and other hardware.
“This ‘memflation’ effect is likely to continue into 2027 before hardware prices stabilize.”
John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner
While higher average selling prices drove overall spending upward, they dampened end-user demand across the entire forecast period.
The consequences are already evident in the market. According to IDC, global PC shipments fell by 20.1 percent in the third quarter of 2026, while smartphone shipments declined by 20 percent according to Counterpoint Research. Gartner bases its forecast on the analysis of revenue data from more than a thousand vendors across all segments of IT.
(Editorial Team)
