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Industry sustains robust growth rate

The global IT industry has recovered from a momentary dip in revenue growth, judging by the financial reports published in September 2008.

The Information Age Index, which tracks the performance of the world’s 200 largest IT companies, rose by half a percentage point to reach a rolling average revenue growth rate of 11.4% for the month.

The IT industry in Europe, however, continues to languish in single figure growth rates. The European index, which tracks revenue growth among 80 companies based in Europe, fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%.

As ever, it was the household names whose performance supplied the lift for the global index.

Industry giant HP banked $25.5 billion during the third quarter of its financial year, a revenue increase of 10%. PC and server maker Dell posted an 11% revenue hike in revenues during its fiscal second quarter, up to $16.4 billion, while networking equipment maker Cisco saw a 10% rise to $10.4 billion for the final quarter of its year. And global IT consultancy and service giant Accenture grew its takings by 18% to $6.5 billion.

In revenue terms, the fastest grower was Research in Motion (RIM), manufacturer of the BlackBerry, whose second quarter revenues grew 88% year on year to reach $2.6 billion. A dip in profitability, however, caused investors to dismiss RIM’s performance as a failure

In Europe, the sluggish performance was typified by companies such as card payment systems provider Gemalto, whose revenues from the first half of the financial year grew by just 4%.

But if the global index looks buoyant now, the figures in a few months time – when the impact of this month’s financial disasters begins to show up on balance sheets – may tell a different story.

The Information Age Index measures the overall growth rate of the IT industry by tracking the financial results of the world’s most important publicly listed IT companies.