KUALA LUMPUR: IT spending in Asia Pacific is expected to reach US$740bil in 2013, an 8.2% increase over 2012 spending of $684bil, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.

“Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.8 trillion in 2013, a 4.1 percent increase from 2012 spending of $3.6 trillion,” said Gartner in a statement on Friday. "Although the United States did avoid the fiscal cliff, the subsequent sequestration, compounded by the rise of Cyprus' debt burden, seems to have netted out any benefit, and the fragile business and consumer sentiment throughout much of the world continues," said Gartner managing vice president Richard Gordon.

The Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast is the leading indicator of major technology trends across the hardware, software, IT services and telecom markets.

Despite flat spending on PCs and a modest decline in spending on printers, it said a short-term boost to spending on premium mobile phones has driven an upward revision in the devices sector growth for 2013 from Gartner's previous forecast of 6.3%.