SBWire

Saudi Arabia offers compelling growth opportunities for IT solution providers across multiple industry verticals owing to the kingdom's strong macro fundamentals and the government's economic diversification plan, which is driving growth and investment in the private sector. We believe that global IT firms with considerable local presence will benefit the most from this opportunity. A number of major IT firms have already taken steps in recent years to ramp up their operations in the country, usually through partnerships with local system integrators .

Although Qatar's small population limits growth opportunities in the IT market, it is nevertheless supported by high private consumption levels and strong government support for the ICT sector. ICT has been a major beneficiary of government policies to diversify Qatar's economy away from hydrocarbons, notably through ictQATAR's ICT-2015 strategy and the government's push to build smart cities. These government initiatives have led to ambitious investments in network infrastructure which will encourage broader take-up of IT services as well as development of innovative IT systems. However , we note that increased diplomatic tensions between Qatar and other GCC member states pose downside risk to our economic outlook for the country, which could in turn curtail the government's ability to maintain high levels of investment in the ICT sector over the long term.

The outlook for US IT spending remains strong when compared to the majority of developed markets over the medium term, as a result of stronger economic performance and a greater interest from enterprises in the latest products and solutions. Cloud computing, real-time enterprise software, security and big data are all areas of spending in which we expect to see strong growth, particularly in the latter years of our forecast. the retail hardware outlook is more mixed, as we expect continued demand growth for tablets in the retail market; however, desktop and notebook sales continue to be squeezed.. Total spending is expected to reach USD665 bn in 201 4, up 5. 3 % from 201 3 , and grow at a CAGR of 4.4 % 2014- 201 8.

China continues to outperform in terms of IT spending growth and IT sector development. Despite rapid growth in the past decade the market remains attractive with strong growth prospects resulting from (inter alia) the size of population, rising incomes, relatively low market penetration and a supportive poli tical environment . IT spending growth in China is expected to outperform on a regional and global basis, with a CAGR of 9. 7 % forecast 2014-2018 as IT spending increases as a share of GDP . However, China's IT market is not without its challenges as the pool of first-time buyers diminishes and vendors continue to struggle in the face of ongoing high levels of piracy, cyber security issues , intense competition for price-sensitive consumers and uncertainty generated by regulatory decisions . BMI believes that t he outlook is positive overall , with the caveats mentioned above.

The UAE has seen a steady rise in the number of new businesses in the last two years, partly due to the government's economic diversification efforts and the country's status as a regional gateway for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This will drive for IT solutions in the enterprise segment during our forecast period, ending in 2018. Large scale government IT initiatives such as smart city projects and e-government programmes will also remain a key growth driver for the IT sector. Although high income levels bode well for consumer demand, growth in that segment will be weighed down by the shift towards mobile devices for basic computing functions.

The medium term growth story for Brazil's IT market is positive, but we continue to highlight downside in 2014 as a result of a weaker economic environment, particularly currency depreciation and declining confidence . Looking further ahead, t he Brazilian IT market is the largest in Latin America and will continue to be driven by a growing middle-class population and enterprise modernisation . There are also major opportunities in the retail hardware spending, with first-time buyer and upgrade/replacement opportunities in the PC market, strong demand for tablets (including procurements for education). Meanwhile, Brazil is also developing as a regional hub for emerging technologies, including machine-to-machine communications, Big Data and cloud computing.

We made a small downward revision to the growth outlook for Sweden's IT market in 2014 in the Q4 update to reflect the weaker economic forecast from our Country Risk team. Even prior to the downgrade, growth was forecast to significantly underperform emerging markets in the region over the medium term , due to market maturity. Despite short-term challenges , the market will remain highly lucrative and there are many positives including a strong local system of software firms and the coverage and capacity of supporting data network infrastructure. Meanwhile, we identify data centres, cloud computing, and real-time business software and services as medium-term growth trends in Sweden. We also highlight the potential for Sweden to be a leading adopter of labour saving smart automation and assistant technologies as a result of high labour costs and its status as a leading innovator.

The Malaysian IT market has a bright medium term outlook, due to a supportive economic environment and a government policy framework encouraging the development of the market . In the hardware market , strong growth in tablet s ales and a boost to traditional form factor sales from XP support withdrawal and cuts to Windows licensing fees will boost consumer and eEnterprise spending. Meanwhile, over the medium term vendor innovation based on Intel 's Haswell chips and Windows touch functionality will help vendors capitalis e on the strong consumption story in Malaysia. I n the enterprise market growth will be slightly slower, with corporate customers more hesitant as a result of ongoing global economic uncertainty. However , there will be some areas of strong growth , including security software and services, as well as outsourcing and cloud computing.

The IT market in Kuwait is forecast to continue expanding each year over our medium term forecast to 2018, and it will remain one of the most lucrative markets in the region in per capita terms. Kuwait had one of the highest GDP per capita levels in the world at the end of 2013, and with only 2% of its population residing in rural areas the retail hardware market has proved fertile ground for premium vendors such as Apple . As a result , we are confident that IT spending will continue to increase over our forecast period, projected to come in at KWD306mn in 2014 , an increase of 4.2% over 2013 . We expect the sector will continue to feel the benefits of the Kuwaiti economy 's strong performance in 2014, with non-oil growth expected to accelerate on the back of strong domestic demand and a modest pick-up in government capital spending.

We expect the Venezuelan IT market to be a regional underperformer in 2014 and over the medium term. The outlook is weakened by several economic challenges including inflation of more than 50% in 2014 and forecasts for a sharp depreciation of the bol ? var in the near future. These add to the existing challenges posed by the policy environment in areas such as the promotion of local production, IP enforcement and the 2014 introduction of a fair-price law limiting operating margins to 30%. There are however glimmers of opportunit y amid a weak outlook for vendors, for instance , the low PC penetration and government programmes to boost sales should ensure volume growth in the PC market . Further, a s the economic situation stabilises in the latter years of our forecast we believe local and regional vendors will be well positioned to capitalise on opportunities presented by government and enterprise modernisation.

There have been many advances in computer memory over the last decade, dwarfing computers and allowing for more compact designs and portability than ever before. Yet the external hard drive still remains a bit on the bulky side with cables and its portability not as easy as one would hope until now. Artremex, a London based technology company has created an award-winning design Micro SSD external hard drive that operates on USB 3.0 technology and has launched an Indiegogo campaign to bring the Micro SSD available to the market.

Visible Light Communication (VLC)/Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) & Free Space Optics (FSO) Market by Component, Applications (Terrestrial, Mobile, & Satellite for FSO & Communication, Automotive, Healthcare, Aerospace, & Underwater for VLC/Li-Fi), & Geography - Analysis & Forecast to 2014 - 2020

Scintillator Market by Composition of Material, Application (Healthcare, Homeland security, Industrial application, Nuclear Power Plants, and others), End Product (Personal Instrument, Hand-Held Instruments, Fixed, and Installed Instruments) & Geography - Global Forecast and Analysis to 2013 - 2020

Heterogeneous Mobile Processing & Computing Market by Component (processor, GPU, DSP, connectivity), Technology Node (45NM-5NM), Application (Consumer, Tele-communication, Automotive, MDA, Medical), & Geography - Forecast & Analysis to 2014 - 2020

Tablet growth has been stagnant and the global market for tablets is near saturation. This is evidence by the fact that tablet sales of two leading brands Apple and Samsung have been losing shine. The market growth now weighs more on cheaper tablets of Chinese and white-box vendors. The trend toward lower-cost has forced tablet vendors to change their minds about processor adoption. This has led to a rise of Chinese tablet processor makers like MediaTek, RockChip, Allwinner, and Amlogic. Sales of Intel's low-cost processors has also picked up quickly in China. This report outlines the overall development of tablet processors and examines the future development of global tablet market under the influence of growing importance of Chinese players.

Near Field Communication (NFC) Market by Product (IC/Chips, Tags, Readers, and Auxiliary), Application (Payment, Transportation, Booking, Data Sharing, Service, Access Control, Health Care, and Tag applications) & by Geography - Global Forecasts to 2022

We forecast a CAGR of 15.5% for IT market spending 2014-2018, with the market expected to increase to a value of LRK163.8bn in 2018. We believe Sri Lanka will outperform the majority of IT markets in the APAC region due to a convergence of factors. Strong income growth and low penetration of PCs, enterprise software and services will combine to boost IT spending growth in Sri Lanka over the medium term. We expect it to embark on a period of catch-up growth 2014-2018, closing the gap to comparable markets in terms of the penetration of IT products and solutions after a long period of conflict. The local IT industry is also developing, with a vibrant local software and BPO industry and the development of local facilities for PC manufacture and assembly to service the local market and wider region.

ICA Digital, an independent supplier of printing equipment and document management systems, now works with small and medium sized businesses and corporations. Also serving education, charity, and legal organisations, it provides a diverse range of equipment. This includes printers and copiers plus, multifunctional systems, scanners, and support services.

A smart glass or switchable glass is a unique type of glass, and it can change its light transmission properties. Based on the types of external stimuli needed for a change, smart glass can be bifurcated into two types: active and passive. In the case of passive glass, heat and ultraviolet light sources are used to initiate the change, whereas electrical current acts as the stimulus in active smart glass. Smart glass finds its use in various industries, including Transportation, Aviation, and Architecture.

Projectors are devices used to project images on any given surface or screen, usually on a projection screen. Traditional projectors are bulky and heavy devices. Though projectors were meant to be portable devices, users find it difficult to carry them around. Pico projectors, on the other hand, are tiny, lightweight next-generation devices that provide users with easy portability compared to traditional projectors. There are two types of pico projectors: standalone and embedded.

Fingerprint Sensors Market by Type (Swipe And Area), Material (Optical Prism, Pizeoelectric, Capacitive,and Adhesives), Application (Mobile Devices, Government, Defense, Healthcare, Commercial Security and Banking & Finance), and Geography - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2014 - 2020

At the end of 2013, the IT industry accounted for around 0.9% of GDP, but with rising incomes and supportive government policy we expect this to rise gradually to 1.1% by 2018. The government is boosting development through several initiatives, for instance improving supporting infrastructure, for instance through the Fibre Optic Backbone Network, and boosting domestic IT enterprise development through StartUp Peru and the One Laptop Per Child policy. We believe Peru's IT market will perform strongly over the medium term due to a combination of a supportive macroeconomic environment and growth trends in the IT sector such as declining global device prices . There is however downside to an otherwise positive outlook, with o u r Asia Country Risk team expecting weaker Chinese demand to negatively impact Peruvian growth.

US Logic, a leading provider of data center products and solutions, is pleased to announce the continuation of its Cisco Wholesale Program. US Logic is a proud partner of a limited group that is allowed to purchase from this Cisco pool of inventory.

We already had a positive outlook for IT market growth in the Czech Republic in 2014, but this view has been bolstered by a recovery in the desktop and notebook market, as well as a stronger economic outlook . Higher levels of business and consumer confidence will see demand growth , while deferred purchases from the previous period of uncertainty , particularly in enterprise software and IT services, will add to momentum. The pick-up in growth will cement the Czech IT market's status as a regional leader in Central and Eastern Europe, with a strong domestic skills base, investment by international firms, local entrepreneurship and high penetration of devices and solutions. We identify tablets, hybrids/convertibles, enterprise software, the rapid development of the cloud services market, and security s oftware and solutions as medium- term growth drivers.

We have a bullish outlook for the continued development of Chile's IT market , and we expect it to be a regional outperformer in Latin America despite its small population. High levels of spending per capita ha ve already resulted in the country hav ing the highest PC penetration rate in the region, a fact that bodes well for growth of software and IT services in the market - an important sign of market maturity. Nevertheless, there is still significa n t growth from hardware sales, with new form factors , such as tablets, enabling volume gr o wth to continue, even as the value of the market grows at a slower pace. Meanwhile, Chile's forward-looking government supports the rate of ICT growth with key developments such as the Imagine Chile Digital Agenda for 2013-20 2 0 and a move to encourage entrepreneurship among IT companies.