Per-capita IT spending in the country stood at $60 in 2011, or 6.3% of the EU 27 average and well below the Adriatic regional average of $146, says IDC
TIRANA, July 3 – The Albanian IT market grew 5.5% year on year in 2011 to reach $190.43 million, according to a report by IDC consultancy services. Measured in local currency (ALL), the market grew 1.9% from the previous year. IDC expects the IT market in the country to expand 2.5% year on year in 2012, and to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.1% to reach $212 million in 2016. Per-capita IT spending in the country stood at $60 in 2011, or 6.3% of the EU 27 average and well below the Adriatic regional average of $146.
“After a significant decrease in 2009 and 2010, IT spending in Albania rose only moderately last year. Growth was driven by higher-than-market-average IT investment by the government and telecom sectors,” says Managing Director Boris Zitnik, IDC Adriatics. “Spending by the finance and ‘other real’ sector also rose, but slightly below the market average, while household IT consumption stagnated.”
Most of the technology segments expanded in 2011, with IT services and software exceeding the overall market average. Spending in the combined PC category increased due to the performannce of notebooks and media tablets, while desktop deliveries declined sharply. Smartphone shipments soared last year, but sales of feature phones dropped. Networking equipment sales grew solidly, driven by investments by a new mobile operator.
“Expanding GDP, the MCC program aimed at improving the business climate in the country, the government’s action plan for development of an IT society in the 2009-2013 period, and the entry of the fourth mobile operator positively influenced the IT market in Albania last year”, says Zitnik. “Modest GDP growth is predicted for 2012, as a result of the recession in the eurozone. This could restrain IT spending in the country, although IDC expects ‘traditional’ IT areas (services, software, computers, and hardcopy peripherals) to grow, while mobile phone and networking equipment deliveries should decline.”
