In 2010 the IT market in Russia recovered the growth. According to the latest report “IT market in Russia 2011. Development forecasts for 2011-2016” published by PMR, a market research company, in 2010 the total net value of IT products and services sold in the country increased by 23.4% year on year to RUB 516bn (€12.8bn). However if measured in euro, the market value still remains €1.1bn smaller in comparison to almost €14bn reached in 2008.
The increase of the sales in 2010 was registered in every segment of the Russian IT market. “The main reason for the market recovery in 2010 was overall improvement in Russian economy and growing confidence of the consumers in their future incomes. As a result the retail sales of personal computers, in particular of the notebooks, were quickly growing pulling the entire market up” – comments Pawel Olszynka, a PMR analyst and one of the report authors.
Public IT investments and related initiatives of the government including implementation of ECM systems in Russian public institutions and the law on personal data also played a role in strengthening the demand for IT services and products last year.
The Russian IT market remains corporate oriented. The corporate sector accounted for 50% of total IT spending in the country in 2010. However, last year sales increase in the corporate segment did not exceed 10% year on year, and thus the market share of corporate customers declined, which is explained by the sharp budget cut in the period of the economic crisis. The crisis also meant a sharp reduction in the investments from small and medium enterprises. Russian managers reviewed and increased their investment spending only in H2 2010. Therefore, so-called postponed demand in the business segment will impact IT market in 2011.
Fast growth in the retail sales of personal computers in 2010 led to an increase in the share of hardware in the total value of the IT market in Russia. We consider strengthening of the hardware segment to be a result of the development of private consumption in the country rather than a short term consequence of the economic crisis.
Healthy macroeconomic results
From 2001 until 2008, Russia experienced fast economic growth. The annual GDP in the country expanded at the rate higher than 5% year on year. In 2009, Russian GDP declined by 7.8% year on year because of the world economic crisis and decline in the prices of natural resources, the main export commodity in Russia. However, the recovery of the economic growth was registered already in 2010, when Russian GDP grew by 4% year on year. As a result, the unemployment rate last year declined to 7.5% from 8.4% as at the end of 2009. Russia also managed to maintain inflation at the level of 2009.
One of the key factors which impacted economic development in Russia in 2010 was the growth of oil prices. The average annual price of Ural brand increased in 2010 to $78.2 per barrel, from $61.1 in 2009. This strengthened the financial shape of oil and gas companies and also increased the incomes of the federal budget. However, the Russian domestic consumer market still has sufficient room for development which attracts investments and drives the growth of the production. It is also worth noting that in 2010, investments in Russian economy increased by 6% year on year compared to 2009, after a 16.2% decline a year earlier.
Overall economic development in Russia last year was positive and became a good background for the business development and investments in IT. The government was increasing budget spending in spite of the budget deficit, which reached 4% of GDP in 2010. However, considering a low level of the public debt in Russia, this indicator is not critical for the economy at the moment.
This press release is based on information contained in the latest PMR report entitled “IT market in Russia 2011. Development forecasts for 2011-2016”.