European IT market to bounce back in 2010

Market will return to growth next year after 2.6 per cent decline in 2009, according to EITO

EITO predicts modest growth of 0.6 per cent next year

The European IT market will bounce back in 2010 to record positive growth after falling 2.6 per cent this year.

That is according to the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO), which said the economic recovery would stimulate high-tech markets.

After rising three per cent in 2008, the market for IT hardware, software and IT services is set to fall by 2.6 per cent this year to €299bn (£269.7bn).

But the European IT sector is set to breach the €300m barrier once again next year with predicted growth of 0.6 per cent.

EITO also expects the overall IT, telecoms and consumer electronics market to stabilise in 2010. After shrinking 2.2 per cent to €714bn this year, the market is set to drop by just 0.5 per cent next year.

The digital consumer electronics market is set to incur the largest losses this year, nose-diving eight per cent to €58.5bn following a plunge in the price for flat-screen TVs, digital cameras and navigation systems.

Dr Axel Pols, chairman of the EITO Taskforce, said: “The global economic crisis hasn’t hit the ICT sector as hard as many other industries.

“The economic upturn in the coming year will also stimulate the high-tech markets. The demand from companies, above all, will start to rise.”