Analysis of the Russian IT-market from IT Research

Russian IT market enters recovery phase

According to the analytical company ITResearch, a number of Russian IT market segments showed a positive development in 2016. The greatest results were observed in the segment of information panels, which grew in volume by almost 16%. Other segments in the sector of display devices (monitors and projectors) have also demonstrated the growth.

Global production of smartphones declines by 23,2%

According to the Taiwan consulting company TrendForce International, the vendors produced a total of 307.049 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2017. IT-resource DIGITIMES reported the decline of gadget production by 23.2% compared to the previous quarter. However, ITResearch analysts believe that we should not have fears about such a strong decline.

Slump in sales of 7-inch devices is the main problem of the Russian tablet market

The analytical company ITResearch announced the results of 2016 for the Russian tablet market. The sales of tablet PCs (devices with a diagonal of 7 to 12.9 inches) totaled 4.9 million units with the cost of 50.2 billion rubles. Compared to 2015, this represents a decrease of 24 and 14%, respectively. Although the decline is not as strong as in 2015, when the market dropped by one third, the tablets can be considered to be in a downtrend. The decline of 2016 was not simply conditioned by economic reasons. First of all, analysts observe the slump in sales of 7-inch tablets, which have been driven out by the competition of phablets. On the contrary, the sales of 10.1-inch devices even increased compared to 2015.

Notebook market declines by 1% in February

According to the analytical company ITResearch, in February the Russian notebook market has grown compared to January, which is understandable. However, the year was marked by a slight decline at a rate of 1%, which is still is better than the dynamics for the previous year as a whole. The number of brands in the notebook market continues to increase due to the presence of local actors, producing cheap mobile devices, mainly based on Atom Z. However, they ship almost 10% in units, while traditional vendors are increasing sales of more advanced models.

Alternative energy gains prominence in the market of infopanels

According to the analytical company ITResearch, Russia sold 32,800 information panels (LFD, large format displays) for the amount of about 97.6 million dollars in 2016.  Compared to 2015, the market has grown by 15.8% in volume and by 28.5% in value. Concerning changes in the technological structure of the market, ITResearch experts note a certain stagnation in the segment of frameless solutions for video walls, which were previously the driving force of the industry. This is explained by a certain saturation of this segment, but the most important thing is the increasing pressure from modular LED screens. The new study conducted by ITResearch has shown that the sales of LED-based indoor complexes were already quite impressive in 2016 (and even in 2015).

The whole Russian monitor market becomes widescreen

According to the analytical company ITResearch, Russia sold 2.33 million monitors in 2016. Compared to the previous year, the sales grew by 10.6% and amounted to 369 million dollars in value, which corresponds to an annual growth of some 5.4%. This is two times lower than in volume, and results from a noticeable decrease in the weighted average cost of monitors. Decrease in the weighted average cost was largely due to significant tender shipments of monitors, as these models are mainly budget. Technologically, analysts note that 2016 turned out to be the last year for monitors of the "standard" format (5:4 and 4:3 aspect ratio). They are still on the market, but their sales are quite miserable. That is why now the monitor market can be defined as "widescreen".

Even a double-digit decline in the scanner market is a success

According to the analytical company ITResearch, 71.5 thousand flatbed scanners were sold in Russia in 2016, which is 14% less than a year ago. The money market volume amounted to $7 million, or 10.5% less than in 2015. Compared to other segments of the Russian IT market, the 14% decrease is not a very good indicator (for example, PC segment was marked by a general growth in sales). However, after the catastrophic decline in the sales of flatbed scanners in 2015 (when the relevant news was entitled "Scanner market falls 10 years behind"), the current pace of sales decline should be considered almost as victory.

Situation on the Russian market of document scanners markedly improves

The analytical company ITResearch announced the results for the Russian market of document scanners in 2016. Total sales amounted to 28.1 thousand devices, which is only 0.3% less than in 2015. Consumer demand has noticeably shifted to the lower category of document-scanners with a capacity of up to 30 ppm, sold at 10% more than a year earlier. The sales of all high-speed scanners declined. The category of network models remained a point of market growth, with the 20% growth of sales compared to 2015.

Projectors market declines again

According to the analytical company ITResearch, about 4 thousand projectors for $4.2 million were sold in the Russian market in February 2017. Compared to January of this year, the sales declined by 1,7 thousand devices, or by 30%. Compared to February 2016), there was also a decrease in annual terms, but not so significant: by some 7%.

Monitor market continues to grow

According to the analytical company ITResearch, monitors in the Russian market of January followed the trend of growth in February 2016. A total of 161 thousand devices was sold for a $ 27.3 million. The annual growth of the market was about 11%.

Dollar falls, but the prices for printing devices in rubles do not

The analysis conducted by the experts of the analytical company ITResearch has shown that the prices of printing devices in the Russian market did not follow the trend of the dollar/ruble ratio, as it is commonly believed. Unlike 2015, when the ruble significantly fell against the dollar, during the entire 2016 the Russian currency was steadily strengthening (by almost 20% by the end of the year), which should have resulted in a decrease in ruble prices. However, this did not happen, and ruble prices even became on average nearly 8% higher.

Decline of the Russian hardcopy market slows down

According to the analytical company ITResearch, 2.2 million printers and desktop MFPs were sold in Russia in 2016. This is 11.9% less compared to 2015. At the same time, printer sales decreased by 13.5%, while the sales of the desktop MFP declined by nearly 11%. Thus, in 2016, the market continued to remain in the red until the previous year, but the rates of decline slowed down significantly (in 2015 they were more than 30%).

Market of photographic paper face system problems

According to ITResearch's recently released analytical report on the photo paper market, the decline of this segment not only continued in 2016, but even intensified. In total, the Russian market sold about 1.9 million packs of photo paper for $17 million for the year. Compared to 2015, the market declined by 35% in volume and by 17% in money. This is significantly worse compared to 2014 and 2015, when this segment was more stable in comparison with other IT market segments, despite its negative dynamics.