Type of Article: MacTech Blog

Worldwide IT spending is on pace to total US$3.5 trillion in 2015, a 5.5%decline from 2014, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Analysts at the research group attribute the decline to the rising U.S. dollar. In constant-currency terms, the market is projected to grow 2.5%. In Gartner’s previous forecast in April, it had forecast IT spending to decline 1.3% in U.S. dollars and grow 3.1% in constant currency. 

The worldwide pay-TV market surpassed more than 900 million subscribers in 1Q 2015, representing 48% penetration—the market is likely to grow steadily over the next 5 years, mainly boosted by emerging markets, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). Half of the world’s households will have access to pay-TV service by 2017, representing 1 billion subscribers, notes the research group.

The wearables market maintained its upward trajectory in the first quarter of 2015 as new vendors, including Apple, prepared to enter the market.

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (www.idc.com) estimates that 72.1 million wearable devices will be shipped in 2015, up a strong 173.3% from the 26.4 million units shipped in 2014. Shipment volumes are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.6% over the five-year forecast period, reaching 155.7 million units shipped in 2019, according to the research group.