Europe Communications Gear Markets are Global Weak Spot

If you have been following 2012 communications service provider sales and revenue, you know it has not been a good year. That also is true of overall information technology sales.

Measured in local currencies to eliminate currency fluctuations, 2012 IT product growth will be  3.6 percent,  lower than Forrester Research's January 2012 prediction of 5.3 percent. 

Slower economic growth in the United States, Europe, China, and India, is the reason for the slower growth, says  Forrester Research

But Forrester Research also points out that the slowdown is concentrated in Europe, and notably,  and one technology product category: communications equipment. 

In local currency terms, the tech markets of the United States and Asia Pacific will grow by four percent to five percent, while emerging markets in Latin America and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa will expand by over eight percent.

The weak spot will be Western and Central Europe, where the tech market will shrink by 2.5 percent. Software, IT consulting and systems integration services, and IT outsourcing will grow by four percent to five percent or more, and computer equipment by almost three percent.

But communications equipment purchases will decline by almost one percent.