Central and Eastern Europe Mobility Market Will Remain Flat in 2017

Central and Eastern Europe Mobility Market Will Remain Flat in 2017
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Total Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) mobility market revenue growth will remain flat year on year in 2017, according to IDC. The total regional market value is expected to exceed $59 billion in 2021.

The mobility market in the region will remain stable, with spending mostly driven by the consumer segment, especially by sales of mobile connectivity services and smartphones. On the other hand, enterprise hardware spending revenues will be mostly fueled by investments into notebooks. Enterprise mobility software will be the only technology segment to post notable revenue growth over the forecast period, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the low double digits.

"Mobility plays important role in a digital strategy for an agile business, competitiveness, and greater customer engagement," says Dusanka Radonicic, senior research analyst with IDC's CEMA Telecoms & Networking group.

Mobile application development services will post significant growth with the introduction of new models and technologies, particularly DevOps practices, design thinking, and automation. "The market is shifting from selling devices to selling experiences, and demand for physical devices is losing ground to securing and enabling apps and content across multiple devices," says Radonicic.

Security is and will continue to be a major mobility challenge. Spending in enterprise mobility management and mobile enterprise security will be propelled by EU regulations aimed at protecting personal privacy. Radonicic notes that "security approaches will become more stringent as enterprises implement digital strategies and the focus increases on protecting mobile apps, content, and access to corporate resources in a cloud environment.

In terms of industry verticals, manufacturing, retail, and banking will represent the highest total mobility investments. Government will record the fastest spending growth, with a CAGR exceeding 5%.

From the country perspective, Russia is the main contributor to mobility spending in the region, accounting for approximately one-third of investments in 2017. This share is expected to slightly increase over the forecast period. The market is not expected to undergo any dramatic changes, and those that do occur will be mostly driven by external factors, such as legislative changes  or funding surges from local governments or the EU in particular countries.