German IT Market

Main article: German economy

2024: $18.3 billion allocated to boost semiconductor industry

As of May 2024

2023: €20bn subsidy plan to boost semiconductor industry in doubt due to lack of money in budget

The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to allocate 20 billion euros ($22 billion) for July 2023. USA) to develop semiconductor production in Germany in order to support the country's technology sector and ensure the supply of critical components amid growing geopolitical tensions.

About 75% of the funds should be received by American Intel and Taiwanese TSMC.

It was expected Germany to subsidize companies despite a return to budget restrictions. The government is planning billions in budget cuts for 2024, including social benefits.

In December 2023, it became clear that the budget crisis in Germany could affect plans to provide billions of euros in government subsidies to chip companies, which could undermine its hopes for a significant role in the global semiconductor industry.

Intel, which will spend 30 billion euros ($32.5 billion) to build two new plants in the eastern city of Magdeburg, was supposed to receive 9.9 billion euros in subsidies for its project, which will be the largest foreign investment in the country's post-war history.

Doubts over state the backstop have been growing since Germany's constitutional court issued a surprise ruling in November that brought confusion to the government's 2024 spending plans.

2020: European tech companies attracting the most investment in 5 years

The European technology companies that attracted the most investments from 2015 to February 2, 2020

2018: Largest IT companies

Data for 2018

2015: Forecast + 1.5 %

In mid-March 2015, the Federal Association of IT, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) raised its forecast for the German industry, predicting its growth by 1.5% in 2015 - to 155.5 billion euros. Previously, a rise of 0.6% was expected^[1]

The updated forecast for 2015 reports that corporate IT spending in Germany will increase by 3.2% and amount to 80.3 billion euros. Software costs will jump 5.7% to 20.2 billion euros. In the IT services segment, 3 percent progress and a volume of 37.3 billion euros is predicted.

In the computer hardware market, BITKOM predicts a slowdown - to 1.3% from 5.7% in 2014. In 2015, sales of desktops and laptops will fall by 7.3% to 5.9 billion euros, while a year earlier sales of these products rose by 15.7%.

2014: 4.2% increase

In mid-March 2015, the Federal Association of IT, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) released fresh data on the German ICT industry. Its volume increased by 1.5% in 2014 relative to the one-year-old indicator, almost consistent with the forecast made in October 2014.^[2]

Experts estimated the ICT market in Germany at 153.3 billion euros at the end of 2014. A year earlier, this figure was 151 billion euros and decreased by 0.4% compared to 2012.

In 2014, 26 thousand new jobs were created in the German ICT industry, while no more than 10 thousand were expected. Taking into account this activity, the total number of people working in local IT and telecommunications companies may approach 1 million people by the end of 2015, which means that the ICT market will become the second largest total number of personnel in Germany after the engineering industry.

Dieter Kempf predicts further job growth in German IT market

Over the past five years, ICT companies have created about 100 thousand new jobs in Germany, growth will continue in the coming years, said BITKOM President Dieter Kempf in October 2014.

In 2014, the volume of the German IT industry increased by 4.2% compared to the previous year and reached 77.8 billion euros, which is in line with the early forecast. In 2013, growth was measured at 2.3%.

German IT market boosts growth

One of the main stimulants of the market was computer equipment and various devices. Sales of these products jumped 6.3% in 2014, largely due to the end of official support for Windows XP, which prompted companies to upgrade their PC systems.

Earlier, sales of desktops and laptops were expected to increase by 12.2% and 11.2%, respectively, in 2014 - to 2.6 and 3.5 billion euros. The sale of smartphones in the context of saturated demand for them was predicted in the amount of 8.3 billion euros, which is 1.7% more than in 2013. In 2012, the growth of this market was measured at a 39 percent pace.

According to the forecast from October 2014, the total cost of IT equipment in Germany in 2014 should have amounted to 22.4 billion euros, which is 5.8% more than in 2013.

Experts predicted a 1.5 percent decline in sales of consumer electronics - up to 10.6 billion euros. In 2013, the decline was measured at 14.8%. Dieter Kempf linked the improvement in this market to the quarter-grown demand for game consoles and the high implementation of TVs thanks to new high-quality models and the World Cup.

BITKOM predicted that software sales would increase by 5.6% to 19.1 billion euros in 2014, costs for IT services - by 2.7% to 36.3 billion euros, and in the telecommunications market there will be a decrease in investments by 0.9% to 65 billion euros. With the last figure, the experts guessed. Sales of software and IT services in Germany, according to fresh estimates in 2015, increased by 5.4% and 2.3%, respectively.

According to experts, in 2014 there was a significant shift in the German IT industry. In particular, the fall in sales of personal computers ended, but at the same time the demand for smartphones and tablets slowed down.

As noted by Dieter Kempf, as before, there are different dynamics in the segments of the ICT market. This, for example, applies to the segments of IT equipment, software, consumer electronics and telecommunications, added the president of BITKOM.

See also

• IT market of Russia
• Azerbaijan IT market
• Armenia IT Market
• Africa's IT Market
• IT market of Belarus
• Bulgaria IT Market
• Brazil IT Market
• Europe's IT Market
• Western Europe IT Market
• India IT Market
• IT market of Kazakhstan
• China IT Market
• Moldovan IT Market
• Romania IT Market
• Uzbekistan IT market
• IT market of Ukraine
• Czech IT market
• South Korea IT Market

Notes