Market Analysis

Consumers worldwide are spending more time online and are quick to avoid websites that provide poor user experiences or have had security breaches, according to the latest 'state of the User Experience' research report from Limekight Networks.

Vendor revenues for the last four quarters increased by almost 3% on an annualised basis across six key enterprise infrastructure segments, says Synergy Research Group. Aggregate revenues for the last four quarters reached $113bn, with revenue in each of the last 12 quarters typically in the $26-29bn range.

Distribution, while well placed to provide vendor information to channels, is increasingly offering market insights back to vendors. And it is very much needed, according to some experts. The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) has just released its latest research on what vendors think about distribution's new emerging roles, which includes expanded services going forward.

There is a split of opinions among males and females on the impact of automation in the workplace, according to a study by TalkTalk Business based on research conducted by YouGov. The report found that over a third of male workers (39%) feel AI and automation will make them better at tackling day-to-day tasks, in contrast to less than a quarter of female workers (24%).

EMEA's traditional PC market (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) was almost flat in the third quarter of 2017, with the market remaining slightly negative (-0.5%) and totalling 17.7 million units, according to IDC.

Global vendor revenue from infrastructure products - servers, storage and Ethernet switching - for cloud IT grew 25.8% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2017, reaching $12.3bn, said analyst house IDC. Western Europe out-performed the cloud IT infrastructure market with a growth rate of 33.4%. Middle East & Africa saw 28.4% growth, and Central and Eastern Europe experienced 16.9%.

The worldwide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) public cloud market grew 31% in 2016 to total $22.1bn, up from the $16.8bn generated in 2015, according to analyst house Gartner. Amazon was the number one vendor in the IaaS market last year, followed by Microsoft and Alibaba. 

Leaders of European artificial intelligence and robotics firms are among over 100 signatories to a letter to the United Nations calling for action to prevent the development of 'killer robots'.