Strong growth rate forecasted for edge computing
Global spending on edge computing solutions accounts for nearly $261 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8% reaching $380 billion by 2028, according to a forecast by market research firm International Data Corporation(IDC). Hardware is the most significant investment at the beginning of the forecast, driven by the rapidly deploying AI accelerated processors.
“This evolution is fuelled by the increasing demand for real-time data processing and the proliferation of intelligent end points that increasingly require edge-based compute, storage and network capabilities such as those supporting agentic AI capabilities”, the forecast says.
“However, aggregate Services segments (includes Provisioned and Professional Services) are estimated to surpass the hardware share by 2028, posting a five-year CAGR of more than 18%. Within Provisioned Services, infrastructure as a service (IaaS) remains the fastest-growing category driven by the need for scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions that can handle the growing computational demands of AI workloads.”
Retail, industrial manufacturing, utilities, high-tech and electronics, healthcare, and life sciences are among the industries that require a particular understanding of their processes and investment behaviour,” says Alexandra Rotaru, IDC data & analytics manager.
Augmented Reality, followed by Artificial Intelligence, are the fastest growing segments over the forecast period, driving increased investments in key sectors.
“In 2025, Retail & Services sector accounts for the largest share of investments in edge solutions, representing nearly 28% of total global spending. In this sector, use cases such as video analytics, dynamic real-time carrier performance and optimized operations account for the biggest spending.”
“The Manufacturing & Resources sector follows as the second largest, collectively making up a quarter of worldwide spending. Additionally, financial services are projected to experience the fastest growth in spending over the next five years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 15%, driven by spending related to Augmented Fraud Analysis and Investigation use case in the AI domain.”
Infrastructure investments made by Service Providers to deliver services to enterprises in the form of multi-access edge computing (MEC), content delivery networks, and virtual network functions are forecasted to reach almost $100 billion by 2028.
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