INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Optimism over M&A
Technology leaders are more optimistic about the outlook for M&A in the next 12 months, with an increase in optimism from 53 per cent to 60 per cent compared to six months ago, according to Deloitte’s biannual survey of UK technology companies. Deloitte has forecast a more competitive auction market with increased private equity activity focused particularly on companies serving SMEs. Conor Cahill, Technology Corporate Finance Partner at Deloitte, said: “It is encouraging that M&A optimism has increased, even if some of the significant premiums paid on a number of deals may lead to some prospective acquirers deciding to sit things out. Cash rich corporate acquirers continue to consolidate the market with an accelerated migration towards cloud related technologies.”
The four key areas for premium valuations are virtualisation technologies, mobile applications, analytical/ diagnostic software and security software. Cahill added: “Valuations are expected to increase in 2011. The favoured sectors are those that support and embrace cloud-based solutions, while diagnostic
software is important to understand changes in customer behaviour. Organisations will address the increased interest in cloud related technologies through their M&A strategy in order to accelerate capability in this area.” n
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Global PBX market picks up but UK lags
T
he Western European corded PBX market
(excluding micro
PBX products) remains chilly, but on a global level the market is warming up, continuing its upward trend and showing signs of recovery in Q3 2010 with market volumes increasing by 13 per cent compared to Q3 2009, and sequential growth of five per cent over Q2 2010 results. The latest figures from communications industry analyst MZA also show that the enterprise market (100- plus users/extensions) was a strong influencer on overall market growth, recording a 15 per cent growth in volume over Q3 2009 and 10 per cent growth sequentially. Contrastingly, the SME (under 100 users/extensions) market continues to show more cautious growth rates with 10 per cent growth over Q3 2009 and only two per cent growth sequentially compared with Q2 2010.
According to MZA, the results continue to show mixed fortunes at a regional level, with North America and Asia Pacific showing the strongest year-on-year growth rates at 17 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, but EMEA and Latin America recorded lower growth rates of 10 per cent compared with Q3 2009. Within EMEA, notably the growth rate of 10 per cent over Q3 2010 was strongly determined by significant rebounds in growth rates in Eastern Europe, and to a lesser degree the Middle East and Africa.
In Latin America Siemens regained the number one spot, followed by Panasonic, Intelbras, Avaya and Cisco. In Asia Pacific NEC continues to hold a dominant first position followed by Panasonic. Cisco’s strong growth in the region elevated it to number three followed by Avaya and Samsung.
Stephanie Watson
The Western European market continues to be a challenging region for all vendors, with a growth rate of only three per cent compared with Q3 2009, and recording a sequential decline compared to Q2 2010. In Western Europe the situation continues to vary by country, as would be expected given the current economic turmoil, with many southern European countries recording year-on-year and sequential declines, as did the UK market. The French market, which had held up well during 2009 largely influenced by strong public sector business, is now feeling the downturn with strong year- on-year and sequential declines recorded in Q3 2010. Bucking this trend were the DACH countries, Benelux and Nordic markets which showed positive growth rates.
The fight for global market leadership was closely contested in Q3 2010,
observes MZA, with Cisco and Avaya recording equal market share of 15 per cent. However, Cisco just beat Avaya to top position in respect of volume, reflecting a notably strong performance in North America and Asia Pacific. Panasonic and NEC retained third and fourth positions respectively, followed by Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and Aastra. According to MZA’s report, the significance of Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent and Aastra’s business in Western Europe (and this region’s continued poor market performance) influences their overall market positions at a worldwide level.
In North America, Cisco’s strong growth this quarter elevated it to top position ahead of rival Avaya. NEC and Mitel Networks took third and fourth positions. Conversely, in EMEA Avaya retained its leading position, followed by Panasonic, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Siemens and Aastra.
At a worldwide level, growth in the market for IP desktop continues to outpace growth in the overall market, with IP desktop continuing to gain share and representing 34 per cent of total shipments compared with 31 per cent in Q3 2009. In respect of desktop IP shipments Cisco lead the global market, followed by Avaya, NEC, Mitel Networks and Siemens.
Stephanie Watson, MZA’s General Manager, noted: “As we edged closer to the end of 2010 it became clear that businesses are still cautious about making significant technology investments unless there are clear cost and business benefits, and the road to recovery is a slow and cautious one. A key focus during 2010 has been the continued emergence of new deployment options such as the cloud, hosted and virtualisation. Meanwhile, the emergence of new payment options for converged communications solutions offer new operational and cost models for businesses and have been a focus of vendor and channel activity during the year. This trend will continue during 2011.” n
14 COMMS DEALER JANUARY 2011
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