The Czech communications and utilities sectors proved the most resilient in the face of economic crisis in 2008, leading a generally flat market in terms of IT spending. The latest data from IT market research firm IDC shows total expenditures on hardware, software, and IT services in the Czech Republic reached $5.69 billion in 2008.

The Czech transport, communications, and utilities sector led the Czech IT market with spending of $1.45 billion in 2008. Czech telcos, expanding their broadband infrastructure and investing in next-generation services, accounted for the bulk of this. Spending in the utilities sector, on the other hand, received a boost from a host of new regulations to liberalize electricity and gas markets, mandate the unbundling of energy production and transmission processes, and enforce stricter emissions quotas.

Manufacturing firms managed $1.09 billion in IT spending in 2008, although this highly export-oriented vertical was among the first – and hardest – hit by the crisis. Looking ahead, IDC believes future spending in this sector will be driven by the desire to optimize infrastructure to cut costs. Finance, a sector hard hit by the crisis in many countries, emerged in relatively good shape in the Czech Republic and continued to be a significant investor in IT, spending $848.40 million in 2008.

The Czech IT market is not yet out of the woods, however, and the general downturn will continue to make itself felt. "Currently," says Senior Research Analyst Milan Kalal, IDC CEMA, "every industry and business sector is dealing with the adverse effects of economic decline. These effects may differ in impact, depending on the industry type, yet all are significant. The issues of labor shortages and rising wages have been replaced by the fundamental aspects of maintaining sufficient cash flow, and cost-cutting measures – such as freezing investments, reducing employee benefits, and laying off staff – have been implemented."

IDC's Czech Republic Vertical Markets 2009–2013 Forecast provides a detailed overview of IT spending trends and forecasts for 17 vertical markets (or sectors) and 10 product and service categories in the Czech Republic. The study features overviews of key industry developments, industry challenges, and vertical-specific IT drivers and trends, and includes tables detailing IT spending by vertical market for each product and service type for the 2008–2013 period. Analysis is based on continuous research, the monitoring of end users' IT spending and emerging purchasing patterns, and both supply- and demand-side research.

For more information on IDC research, please contact Jaromir Valenta (jvalenta@idc.com, +420 221 423 140) or Tatiana Hinova (thinova@idc.com, +420 221 423 140).