Slablets, smartphones and software will lead a very mini revival in IT spending across EMEA next year, but a bumper return to growth for some channel biz owners may be just out of reach.

Beancounter Gartner forecasts market contraction in 2012, with the amount of cash that consumers and businesses splash on tech projected to fall 3.9 per cent in the region to $1.138 trillion.

"This year is a pessimistic year for IT spending in Europe," said Peter Sondergaard, global head of research at the abacus-fondler.

Tech budgets will free up in certain segments to push up spending by 1.4 per cent to $1.154 trillion, with the boom in mobile gadgets - which are "significantly" outpacing traditional PC sales - expected to continue.

The total device space - notebooks, pads, mobile phones and Ultrabooks - is estimated to be worth $136bn this year, up 8 per cent, but the classic PC market will fall by 5 per cent.

Gartner claimed that by 2016 some two-thirds of workers in EMEA will have a smartphone or slab and this will alter the way consumers buy software, forcing traditional vendors to re-write apps for tablet environments.

As a result, it estimates software spending in the region will rise 3.1 per cent in 2013 and be worth $100bn by 2016. ®