The UK Technology Barometer report, published today, says that the IT market was worth £3.9 billion in the first half of this year, a three per cent fall, despite volume increasing by 14 per cent. Growth is attributed to seven main sectors:
* PCs (£1,443m)
* Printing devices, including multifunctional devices, (£303m)
* Monitors (£343m)
* Consumables (£813m)
* HDD and NAS (together worth £130m)
* Communication devices (£122m)
* Software (£239m)
* Printing devices, including multifunctional devices, (£303m)
* Monitors (£343m)
* Consumables (£813m)
* HDD and NAS (together worth £130m)
* Communication devices (£122m)
* Software (£239m)
Despite price reductions, three sectors are said to have been especially hard-hit:
* A4 inkjet printers -
sales down by 17 per cent despite a £10/14
per cent average price drop
* CRT monitors - down 71.4 per cent although prices fell on average by £16
* Desktop PCs - down 20 per cent even though average prices fell by £45
* CRT monitors - down 71.4 per cent although prices fell on average by £16
* Desktop PCs - down 20 per cent even though average prices fell by £45
Convergence, according to GfK IT Business Group Director Jean Littolff, is become ever more common and important:
"Not only are we looking
at convergence within IT sectors, but also a
blurring of lines between IT, consumer electronics, telecoms and photo
areas. This long-standing trend is being realised in the
marketplace
in a substantial fashion in 2006."
The trend is said to be most noticeable in two areas, print-related multifunctional devices and smartphones.
For all multifunctional devices (MFDs), GfK reports 17 per cent volume growth compared to the first half of 2005 and says this is driven substantially by photo-printing MFDs. Sales of printer MFDs, it reckons, now outstrip not only scanners (at a ratio of more than six to one) but even stand-alone printers aimed at consumers.
Smartphones are said to have grown by 17.9 per cent, while single-function PDAs have declined markedly by 38.3 per cent. GfK reckons that as more multiple-megapixel camera phones come onto the market, the development of smartphones could point the way towards a new generation of superphones
Sales of devices allowing wireless usage are said to have, "exploded" during the first half of 2006. Littolff's take is that,
"Although mobile data
usage, such as 3G datacards [themselves up by 475 per cent], remains
the
preserve of enterprise use, wireless networks are increasingly likely
to be found in a domestic setting. A wireless home network is
no
longer a novelty of the early adopter, but rather has become a typical
feature of a connected household."
Those connected households are buying a whole lot of wireless routers (up 77 per cent) and wireless network interface cards (NICs), up 58 per cent, and are increasingly doing so through retail channels, the company says.
Significantly, 85 per cent of notebook PC are said to be wifi-enabled, compared with 61 per cent in the comparable half year, even though average prices fell from £808 to £686. And even desktop PCs are going wireless - four per cent of them, compared with one per cent in the first half of 2005.
And the lower prices of laptops is said to have earned them 59 per cent of all PC sales going out through retail channels whereas in the first half of last year, they took only 42 per cent.
Check out GfK's press release about its UK Technology Barometer and let us know in the HEXUS.community how much of this is news to you, and the significance of any trends being highlighted.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community - discussion thread about this article
HEXUS.lifestyle - GfK's UK Technology Barometer press release
GfK UK - home page
