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Rethinking CSR in the face of new nationalism

CSR needs to be more than just a PR activity by the leaders of the ITC industry but it’s almost impossible, as most very large ITC suppliers have the legal responsibility to ‘maximise shareholder value’. Japan is a notable exception, since companies there also have a duty to do something for their stakeholders as part of their legal governance.

As the world turns against globalisation (evidenced by the election of Donald Trump, Brexit and the growing troubles as Catalonia seeks independence from Spain), it’s time to rethink CSR strategies if you want to continue to be successful.

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Storage systems down, disk drives up, solid state booms in Q2 2017

The market for raw and system storage moves in strange ways – it’s not always upwards and its created more consolidation than in any part of the ITC market. Please read on if you want to find out the latest worldwide market shares, sizes and some ideas on where its all going.

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The year to June 2017 $76b server market primed for big growth

The server market is poised for growth following the introduction of new processors from Intel and AMD; however in Q2 revenues grew only 2.3% to $19.3b, units by 6.3% to 6.3m and the installed base by 2.4% to 75.1m. In the year to the end of June revenues declined by 1.9% to $75.7b, while unit shipments increased by 1.2% to 6.3m. The installed base growth was the same as for the quarter of course. My Figure shows the revenues of the 7 market leaders; it shows HP’s continued dominance of the market, Dell’s ever increasing growth (now enhanced by its acquisition of EMC) and IBM’s decline following its decision to offload its x86 business to Lenovo and to focus on cloud computing by acquiring SoftLayer. You’ll want to learn more about this important part of the ITC market.

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Peripheral market up 2.9% in Q2 2017 – growth at last!


The short, sharp shock of the Credit Crunch in 2008 put paid to the continuous rise of the peripheral market; although there was a recovery in 2009, almost every other year has seen a decline in revenue for most of its elements (see Figure). Having reached a plateau in 2016, the market is now growing once more.

The ‘peripheral’ market includes digital cameras for capturing analogue images, mice, pointers, drawing tablets, 3D headsets, and video cameras (included in the ‘other hardware’ category); most importantly it includes laser and ink jet printers, their supplies (various paper and card for printing, ink and laser cartridges) and peripheral services, which encompass document and print services – typically for large company customers. You’ll want to learn more about how this market is developing.

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ITCandor’s ‘EU and UK data center’ subscription service


This is the ongoing picture of the investment EU purchasers have been making on data center offerings since 2003: it’s taken from our 3 separate reports covering the market, technology and vendors, which are now available. ITCandor is the only research company to publish details of sales, market shares, countries, technology trends and vendor activities every quarter – so why not subscribe? We have small vendor and user discounts available. Please fill in the form below for a service flyer and order form:

[email-download download_id=”12257″ contact_form_id=”11569″]

PCs – big $30b market, good 4.8% growth in Q2 2017

The PC market may have peaked in 2011, but it’s still large (150m shipments giving their suppliers $150b in the year to June). The installed base (down 0.8%) stood at 858m – meaning that there is one PC for 12% of the world’s 7.2b inhabitants. The Figure shows the ‘sales out’ shipments of PCs and the revenues they make for their suppliers each quarter since 2003. Revenues in Q2 were up 4.8% to $36b, in units growth was 4.6% to 53.7m, while the installed base measurement was of course the same as the annual calculation. You’ll want to learn more about how the market is developing.

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Germany regains leading position in EU data center spending


I measure the data center IT market every quarter in the EU (see Figure, which uses current Euro values and shows the top 3 countries share of total EU spending). I notice that Germany has overtaken the UK as the largest market once more. The UK’s share has diminished partially due to the growing business uncertainties of its upcoming exit from the EU. The Pound has also fallen significantly against the Euro, meaning that the UK market measured in Pounds shows an even strong decline.

If you want to learn more about the EU and UK data center market, why not subscribe to my quarter report subscription service? You can download a brochure and order from by filling in the following:

[email-download download_id=”12257″ contact_form_id=”11569″]

Network equipment market – big, slow and important in Q2 2017


The network equipment market is one of the largest in the ITC market; however there hasn’t been very much growth in recent years. I show a comparison of growth rates for service provider and enterprise network spending alongside those for telecom service (very dependent on service provider networking) and the total IT and communications market. You’ll want to learn more about this important part of the industry. Read more »

Gaming console market q217 – Nintendo resurgent


The dedicated console and handset market grew by 23.5% in Q2 2017 in revenues to $2.0b, 18.5% to 7.9m in unit shipments, while the installed base declined by 6.1% to 168m. For the year to the end of June the equivalent measurements were 7.3% ($12.3b revenues) and 3.0% (43m units), while the change in installed base was (of course) the same as the quarterly stats. Nintendo is resurgent due to its introduction of its Switch product, which was in its second quarter of shipments. My Figure shows a comparison of unit shipments by each of the 3 vendors which participate in this market. You’ll want to learn more about this important Internet-connected market.

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Mobile device market up 3.1% to $81.1b in Q2 2017 – Apple maintains its leadership

The world market for mobile devices (personal products with computers almost all running or ARM chips) in Q2 grew by 3.1% to $81.1b in revenues, by 3.2% to 335m in shipments, while the installed base declined by 3.4% to 3.3b, meaning that there is now one device for almost half the world’s population. In the year to the end of June, which is the period shown in the Figures and Table of this paper, total revenues grew by 0.2% to $366b and shipments declined by 0.2% to 1.5b. The installed base for Q2 and the full year are the same of course. You’ll want to know more about this vital market.

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ITC markets down 2% in Q2 2017 – growth worst in the UK (again), best in India


The IT and communications (ITC) market fell by 2.0% in Q2 2017 to $1,517 billion as the increased nationalism around the world takes its toll on the most global of all markets. At a major country level (see my Figure above) India and Japan performed best, with growth rates of 14.4% and 10.3% respectively. The USA is by far the world’s largest market for ITC products and services at $1.8T; however spending there grew by just 0.4% in the quarter. Spending in China was $436B, making it the 3rd largest in the world; however spending there declined by 4.1% in the quarter. By far the worst performing country market was the UK, where the declining value of the Pound and the business uncertainty created by its decision to leave the EU led to a 13.6% decline – making it the ‘poor man of the world’ – not just ‘Europe’.

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IBM z14 mainframe – sophisticated fixes for enterprise challenges


IBM launched its latest mainframe last week. The z14 will create an upward swing in the never ending see-sawing of the most important single server in the market. My Figure shows z System hardware revenues by quarter (on a rolling 4-quarter basis) with model introductions anchored to the left apart from the z14 itself. You’ll want to learn more about what IBM has added to its latest chip, processor unit and systems and what it means to the IT industry.

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The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation – get ready or get busted

The challenge of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is as great as the millennium bug in 1999 and will catch out all organisationss who fail to make the appropriate adjustments to their business processes and IT activities in time. My Figure shows the numerical results for searching for a number of selected phrases on July 3rd and demonstrates a significant lack of activity just 10 months away from implementation. I want to do my bit to raise awareness and help you to understand the background, legislation and activities you’ll need to undertake to be and remain compliant.

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Atos and the digital transformation factory

 

With 100k employees and revenues of €12b Atos is a serious IT services supplier. Overall it had just over a 2% share of the IT services market in EMEA last year, where its strongest business was outsourcing (see the Figure above).
I spoke recently with Bruno Pinna (Global Head of Marketing, Business and Platform Solutions Division), giving me a chance to catch up on its customers, activities, partnerships and strategies. You’ll want to learn more about how Atos has modernised its business to take advantage of the shifts in customer purchasing. Read more »

Micron SolidScale – now that’s what I call Big Data!

On May 3rd 2017 Micron introduced its SolidScale enterprise storage solution for early customers to try out ahead of its full commercial launch in Q1 2018. It’s the first ‘boxed’ NVMEoF solution, which sounds complicated, but  (nevertheless) promises a huge leap in the scale, speed and capabilities of storage systems. Read more »

Violin Memory privatised – the all-flash disruptor disrupted

Violin Memory declared bankruptcy in October 2016 and has now been acquired by Soros, ending its time as a public listed company. Nevertheless it remains one of the foremost disruptors of the traditional storage array market, You’ll want to learn more about its potential as a private company.

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