IT Bracing For Bad 2009

Last week’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas showed the world its new technologies, smart phones and laptops. According to several reports, though, CES also showed that IT companies are bracing for a painful and hard 2009.

Typically, a week of CES shows its “cards” to the world but this year’s CES was definitely subdued. We did see some positive for the c0nsumers in this downed economy – cheap netbooks and cheaper smart phones. But according to several reports, this year’s expo also showed us “scaled-back investment plans, more job cuts and stagnant growth with no signs of improvement.” Several companies at CES all stated they felt the concern that the general public has and wish they could see the “magic ball” into the future.

According to Shutoku Watanabe, Hitachi’s executive VP, when asked by Reuters if the electronics industry was likely to recover, he quipped, “I wish you could tell me.” Estimates from Gartner and DisplaySearch (industry watch groups) show “the global PC, microchip and flat-TV markets will all contract in 2009 in value terms as the protracted economic downturn dampens consumer and corporate spending.”

Most analysts believe that 2009 will be a painful year for IT but others are hopeful that 2010 and 2011 will improve. According to Reuters, there are a few brightspots in this industry such as “Web TV”, a new iPhone competitor (Palm Pre) and cheaper netbooks.  Analysts still remind us, though, that the demand for these products will more than likely not sway the decline in the economy.