Consumer spending set to smash $2.1tn in 2012

Primary spend is on mobile phones, computing and entertainment

Consumers are set to spend $2.1tn (£1.35tn) worldwide on digital information and entertainment products and services this year, Gartner has claimed.

This equates to a $114bn global increase compared with 2011 and the analyst predicts that spending will grow at a faster rate than in the past at about $130bn a year, reaching $2.7tn by the end of 2016.

According to the analyst, the spending consists of consumer spending on mobile phones, computing and entertainment; media and other smart devices; the services required to connect these devices to the appropriate network and the software and media content consumed via these devices.

Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner, said: “The three largest segments of the consumer technology market are, and will continue to be, mobile services, mobile phones and entertainment services.

“There are two product classes, which in terms of absolute dollars are significantly smaller, but offer tremendous growth by 2016. These are mobile app stores and e-text content. We fully expect consumers to more than triple their spending in these latter two categories by 2016.”

Mobile services are expected to generate 37 per cent of total worldwide consumer technology spending in 2012 — equivalent to $0.8tn — rising to almost $1tn by 2016. Mobile phones will account for 10 per cent of total spending in 2012 — or $222bn — rising to almost $300bn by 2016.

Similarly, entertainment services such as cable, satellite, IPTV and online gaming will account for 10 per cent of total consumer spending on technology products and services in 2012, at $210bn, rising to almost $290bn in 2016, Gartner predicted.