EMEA videoconferencing market to boom as desktop takes off

IDC numbers show sustained double-digit growth as lower-end kit enjoys strong sales

The EMEA videoconferencing market is forecast to continue showing impressive growth as lower-end desktop-based kit begins to take off.

IDC expects the market to expand 18.5 per cent in 2012, having grown 20.5 per cent to a worth of $809.5m (£518.6m) last year. Across the five-year 2011-2016 period, the analyst projects a compound annual growth rate of 14.6 per cent.

In 2011 EMEA sales of immersive telepresence technologies fell 16.5 per cent to $96.7m, which IDC chalks up to the increasing popularity of desktop and mobile solutions. The market for video infrastructure equipment was up 26.3 per cent to $210.7m, while end-point sales rose 31.8 per cent to $502.2m.

Western Europe accounted for 88.9 per cent of the total EMEA market worth, with central and eastern Europe providing 7.2 per cent and the Middle East and Africa four per cent.

Melissa Fremeijer, EMEA senior research analyst for unified communications and collaboration at IDC, said: "Given the trending of an increasingly distributed workforce within a globally interdependent economy, the business case for videoconferencing has never been clearer.

"While the key driver for investing in videoconferencing has initially been the need to reduce travel costs, we find that increasingly companies are interested in the benefits of enhanced team collaboration and effectiveness of meetings."