ITC markets back to cruising speed / GfK survey on the Western European ITC markets in 2003

London/Nürnberg (ots/PROTEXT) 22.4.2004 - The year 2003 wasan outstanding one for technological developments in the IT andtelecommunication (ITC) markets. The trend was towards productslike notebooks, photo printers, mobile phones with camerafunction, laser printers and multi-function devices, with totalsales of these items up by over 30 per cent on the previousyear. By contrast, however, products using "old technology",such as tube monitors lingered on the shelves. As in the previousyear, consumers showed again in 2003 a preference for user-friendly ITC products. The decisive criteria for purchasingdecisions remain whether the product suits the purpose of thepurchaser and whether it is easy to use. Consequently, thenumber of LCD monitors sold rose by 100 per cent by comparisonwith the previous year, with the number of multi-function unitssold rising by 135 per cent. These products were sold byindirect channels, i.e. through sales outlets not linked to anyparticular manufacturer.

Sales trend for ITC products +/- in 2003 compared with 2002

Multi-function devices

+135 % LCD monitors

+100 % Notebooks

+30 % Toner

+29 % Paper for ink jet printers +28 % PDAs

+27 % Ink cartridges

+15 % Keyboards

+14 % Mobile phones

+12 % Laser printers

+12 % Multi-disc drives

+6 %

Source: GfK Non Food Tracking; number of units sold

The total volume of the markets for individual ITC hardwareunits and consumables in Western Europe has been estimated ataround EUR 67.8 billion for 2003. However, despite the highnumber of sales, huge discounts produced a drop of three percent by comparison with the previous year in value. This effectresulted mainly from the fierce price wars in the PC market.

More information: www.gfk.com ots Original Text Service: GfK Group Internet:http://www.presseportal.de Contact: Dr. Ulrike Schöneberg Tel. +49(0)911-395-2645ulrike.schoeneberg@gfk.de

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