Mobile phone users have been 'sitting on the sidelines' this year so far, which will lead to a 2.4 per cent contraction in spend on the devices to USD 33.379 billion, says a report.

Users are postponing their purchase plans, global analyst firm Gartner said on Monday, adding that the devices category under the overall IT sales will grow 6.3 per cent to USD 35.468 billion in 2020, .

The negative forecast comes amid the deepening economic slowdown, driven by a drop in private consumption, and nobody is seeing any tangible improvements in the near-term. While Q1 growth hit a six-year-low at 5 percent, Q2 is expected to print in even lower.

However, according to a recent report, there was a heavy jump in e-commerce sales, led by mobile phones, during the just-concluded festival season.

'Next year will be a rebound year for the country's IT spending as consumers return to purchasing mobile phones after sitting on the sidelines in 2019,' the report said, adding the overall IT spend growth is slated to clip at 6.6 per cent in 2020, from 2 percent in 2019.

The report said that the country will close 2019 with an IT spend of USD 88.476 billion, up 2 per cent over 2018. But 2020 seems to be better, clipping at 6.6 per cent at USD 94.326 billion in 2020, it added.

The fastest growing segment will be software at 15.2 per cent at USD 7.354 billion, followed by IT services at 13.4 per cent to USD 17.897 billion, it said.

Growth in spends on communication services will come in at 2 per cent to USD 29.788 billion in 2020, as against a marginal decline in 2019, it said, adding data centre systems spends growth will be flat at 2.5 per cent at USD 2.819 billion.