Germany's
information technology and telecommunications market looks set to perform
better this year than most other sectors of the economy. Experts speak of
unexpectedly high demand for new devices and services.
IT
businesses in Germany are doing much better in 2012 than expected at the
beginning of the year, the country's umbrella organization for the information
technology and telecommunications industries, Bitkom, reported on Thursday.
It expected
domestic companies in the sector to log revenues of 152 billion euros ($199
billion) throughout 2012, up 2.8 percent from 2011 levels and far more than the
1.6 percent penciled in by Bitkom earlier this year.
"Private
households and industry are currently investing more in new devices and IT
solutions," Bitkom Chief Dieter Kemp said in a statement.
Smart
gadgets a hit
Kemp said
tablet PCs and intelligent network solutions had been the market's shooting
stars this year. He noted that tablet devices for instance would most likely
see a rise in revenues by no less than 41 percent year-on-year to total 1.6
billion euros.
Bitkom
added that smartphone sales in the country would even post a 43-percent jump,
with an estimated 23 million units expected to find new owners.
The
umbrella organization said the IT markets would be able to at least partially
offset slumps in other sectors by posting growth far above the forecast 0.8
percent for the whole economy in 2012.
"IT
and telecommunications companies in Germany will create some 10,000 new
jobs," Kemp said. The good news came at a time of disappointing earnings
reports from a number of global IT leaders. Chip maker Intel for instance
announced low quarterly earnings on Tuesday, partly as a result of its products
rarely being used so far in tablets and smartphones.
hg/pfd (Reuters, dpa)
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