13/06-03   -   Pressmeddelande

Low IT Growth in the Nordic Region Drives Attention to SMBs, Says IDC

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 13, 2003 — The most significant trend in the Nordic IT market, according to the latest quarterly update on IT in the Nordic region, is that IDC´s forecast that the small and medium businesses (SMB) segment would become the new, high growth market is coming true — this segment is now showing more market potential than ever.


"The SMB market is highly fragmented, but as it makes up approximately 30% of the total IT market and promises above average growth in the coming years, it is definitely worthwhile pursuing. The competitive landscape is split between the volume/price oriented suppliers and those able to guide the customers. However, a large portion of the market is not targeted very well and particularly the local suppliers, which increasingly feel the competition from the large resellers and VARs, ought to focus on the companies that adopt IT at a slow pace," said Per Andersen, managing director with IDC Nordic.

IDC believes that we are still on a steady recovery path for 2003, but the conflict in Iraq took its toll on the group of very large companies that became marginally more cautious over the past quarter. IDC has revised the evaluation of the 2002 IT market growth downward and except for Finland, the Nordic countries all had declining IT markets last year. Our current expectation for this year is a turnaround to a small positive growth rate. We now believe that Nordic IT growth in 2003 will be 2%–3%, with Denmark as the best performing country and Norway as the slowest growing market. This means that the market will improve slightly but hardly enough to compensate for the 2002 market decline.

"The recession in the Nordic region is not over — by far. However, the number of positive signals is increasing and IDC believes that overall the arrow is pointing in the right direction," Per Andersen continued.

One of the positive signals, closely related to IT growth, is company profitability. The key indicator of company bankruptcies shows a mixed picture over the four countries. In Denmark, the number of bankruptcies seems to be declining, confirming the more positive outlook here. At the other end of the scale, bankruptcies in Norway are still increasing, indicating the more difficult times ahead.

We recommend vendors to take a hard look at addressing the SMB market in the Nordic region. This market is set to outgrow the enterprise market and in a time of low market growth, the SMB market could be key to continued success.
IDC´s Nordic Quarterly Executive Service, 2003 Q2 (IDC# N650302K) tracks and updates IT and telecom trends found in the four Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. It highlights the most recent financial and major market developments in hardware, software, and services. The study provides new data and forecasts for the size of all product markets in the Nordic countries. Furthermore, the IT investment index gives an up-to-date temperature of the current investment climate in the Nordic region.

The study is available to purchase from your local IDC office, or on www.idc.com.

About IDC
IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm helping clients gain insight into technology and ebusiness trends to develop sound business strategies. Using a combination of rigorous primary research, in-depth analysis, and client interaction, IDC forecasts worldwide markets and trends to deliver dependable service and client advice. More than 700 analysts in 43 countries provide global research with local content. IDC´s customers comprise the world´s leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness companies, and the financial community. Additional information can be found at www.idc.com.

IDC is a division of IDG, the world´s leading IT media, research and exposition company.

All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information, contact:
Per Andersen
+45 39 16 22 22
pandersen@idc.com