Worldwide IT spending continues to grow, and looks set to smash the US3.7 trillion mark during 2013.

But while the industry is enjoying growth, research group Gartner says the projected spend is lower than first thought.

Following a 2% rise from spending last year, initial forecasts of a 4.1% increase have been proved wrong, reflecting the impact of recent fluctuations in U.S. dollar exchange rates.

"Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth," says Richard Gordon, managing vice president, Gartner.

"Regionally, 2013 constant-currency spending growth in most regions has been lowered."

Devices

The forecast for spending on devices in 2013 has been revised down from 7.9% growth in Gartner's previous forecast to 2.8%.

The decline in PC sales, recorded in the first quarter of 2013, continued into the second quarter with little recovery expected during the second half of 2013.

While new devices are set to hit the market in the second half of 2013, they will fail to compensate for the underlying weakness of the traditional PC market.

The outlook for tablet revenue for 2013 is for growth of 38.9%, while mobile phone revenue is projected to increase 9.3%.