Global spending on edge computing is projected to increase by 15.4% from 2023 to $232 billion in 2024, according to a new forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Edge Spending Guide.
Sustained growth
Experts project edge computing spending to sustain growth and reach almost $350 billion in 2027 through combined enterprise and service provider spending across hardware, software, professional services, and provisioned services for edge solutions.
"Edge computing will play a pivotal role in the deployment of AI applications," said Dave McCarthy, research vice president, Cloud and Edge Services at IDC. "To meet scalability and performance requirements, organisations will need to adopt the distributed approach to architecture that edge computing provides. OEMs, ISVs, and service providers are taking advantage of this market opportunity by extending feature sets to enable AI in edge locations."
Drivers for growth
Infrastructure spending for multi-access edge computing (MEC), content delivery networks, and virtual network functions will account for nearly 22% of all edge spending in 2024.
"Over the next two years, the share of planned investments moderately favors MEC offerings. Yet on the balance, enterprises are looking to rationalize total service provider outlays. This sets up a dynamic market of capex and opex-based edge offerings competing for investment dollars through 2027," Marcus Torchia, research vice president, Data & Analytics at IDC, said.
Hardware will continue leading the largest investment share with 40% of total spending to build-out edge capabilities by service provider infrastructure.
From a geographic perspective, China will experience the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast, with a CAGR of 16.2%.
