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Global spending on mobility solutions will reach US$1.8 trillion in 2022, with consumers expected to provide more than 70 per cent of investment during the forecast period.
According to IDC findings, more than half of this amount will go toward mobile connectivity services and most of the remainder towards devices, mainly smartphones.
IDC forecasts that growth in the consumer sector will be variable but positive with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2 per cent.
"Even industries that are typically slow to adopt technologies, such as construction and personal and consumer services, are implementing mobile strategies," said Jessica Goepfert, program vice president, customer insights and analysis at IDC.
"In consumer-centric industries such as retail and banking, mobility projects are focused on creating and delivering exceptional customer experiences with hopes of building loyalty and trust.
"Those segments with a more operational focus, like manufacturing and construction, appreciate the efficiency and productivity gains from mobile solutions."
With US$44.9 billion spend forecast for the professional services industry in 2018, this industry is expected to be the worldwide leader for mobility spending, with banking following with US$44.5 billion.
IDC forecasts that more than half of industry mobility spending will go to connectivity services and enterprise mobility services.
"The industries that will see the fastest growth in mobility spending over the forecast period are discrete manufacturing and utilities (each with a 5.9 per cent CAGR), telecommunications (5.8 per cent CAGR), and process manufacturing (5.7 per cent CAGR)," IDC stated.
"Healthcare, with a five per cent CAGR, is forecast to move ahead of education to become the fifth largest industry by 2022."
Mobility services will be the largest area of spending, from a technology perspective, throughout the 2017-2022 forecast, surpassing US$1 trillion in 2021.
Hardware will follow as the second largest technology category with spending forecast to reach US$738 billion in 2022.
IDC also forecasts strong spending growth in software (12.9 per cent CAGR) over the five-year forecast. Mobile enterprise applications will be the largest category of mobile software spending, growing to nearly US$8.0 billion in 2022.
