Growth declines in information and communication technologies in 2009. - According to the American study institute, Gartner, world sales of computers are expected to fall by 11.9% in 2009 to 257 million units. The PC industry will thus experience its sharpest unit decline in history. In 2008, sales had increased by 10.9% to 302.2 million units with an already perceptible slowdown in the fourth quarter (+1.1% - the smallest increase since 2002). This phenomenon can be explained by the current economic crisis, says Gartner, explaining that consumers are seeking to make their computers last longer. Emergent and developed markets together are forecast to suffer unprecedented market slowdowns, the study states, predicting falls of 10.4% and 13% in these regions respectively. Before now, the worst annual fall was in 2001, when the internet bubble burst with sales declining by 3.2%. The portable computer market will, however, manage to escape this downturn with sales forecast to rise by 9% this year (155.6 million units) mainly thanks to the “netbooks” of which 21 million units are expected to be sold, that is nearly twice the number sold last year with sales reaching $11.7 million. Office computers, on the other hand, will continue to fall with 101.4 million units sold (-31.9%). The Gartner Institute also carried out an analysis of the mobile phone market. In this sector also, the impact of the crisis is being felt with a 4.6% decline in world sales during the fourth quarter (314.7 million units), although there is usually a rise in mobile sales during this period, especially during the Christmas period. “Mobile phones have traditionally been one of consumers' preferred presents for Christmas. However, in the fourth quarter of 2008 consumers were concerned about taking on the contracts associated with the most attractive products on the market”, the Gartner report states. Over 2008 as a whole, sales were up 6% with 1.22 billion mobile phones on sale. The slowdown, which was hitherto limited to the western European countries and to Japan (early 2008), has now taken over the emerging countries, a growth relay for terminal manufacturers and telephone operators. The Gartner institute predicts a 4% market slowdown in 2009 and does not expect stabilisation until 2010. Unsurprisingly, Nokia of Finland remains the market leader with a 38.6% share in 2008 compared to 37.8% in 2007. Then there is Samsung of South Korea, ahead of Motorola which has a 16.3% market share compared to 13.4% in 2007. Motorola of the US ranks third with 8.7% of terminal sales. As far as mobile televisions are concerned, European consumers in particular are still not very interested by this technology. Only 5% of them state they are ready to watch television or videos on their mobile phones in the next twelve months. By way of comparison, this rate reaches 20% in Asian countries. In another report, the American survey institute considers that IT spending on vertical markets (public sector, telecommunications, energy, health and agriculture) will only be 0.5% in 2009 ($2.67 trillion when one trillion US equals $1,000,000,000,000). The Gartner survey analyses 43 secondary vertical markets in 35 countries. It considers that, between 2007 and 2012, world spending on information and communication technology will annually increase by around 3.8%. The public sector will be more dynamic (5.2%). Public authorities will devote a large part of their IT budget to “smart grids” - (electricity distribution grids that use information technology to optimise distribution) and energy networks - spending considered “necessary”. The healthcare industry is the second largest area with an estimated annual growth of 5% between 2007 and 2012. The manufacturing industry sector is the area where there will be less investment, with annual growth of around 2.8%. (I.L./transl.jl)