Consumer electronics falls 22% year-on-year

According to a report made public today by the Association of Electronics, Information Technology and Telecommunications Companies (AETIC), the turnover of consumer electronics fell by 22% year-on-year, placing this drop at 7% in all ICT subsectors.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector reduced its activity by 13% in the second quarter and 7% from July 2008 to June 2009, according to a report presented today by the Association of Electronics, Information Technology and Telecommunications Companies (AETIC).

Por sectores, la industria de telecomunicaciones registró la mayor caída interanual (-25%), acelerada por el dato del segundo trimestre de 2009, con un descenso del 31%, debido a una caída, por primera vez en España, de la cifra de negocio de los operadores, así como a una reducción de la demanda de redes fijas, y un estancamiento del mercado de banda ancha fija.

Por su parte, el volumen de negocio de la electrónica de consumo cayó un 22% interanual y un 27% segundo trimestre, lastrada por la bajada de precios de los televisores, en torno al 25%, y a una reducción próxima al 10% de las unidades vendidas en el mercado.

The electronic components sector fell by 17% year-on-year, due to the negative performance of other sectors, and professional electronics decreased by 8% year-on-year, with a steeper decline of 15% in the second quarter because companies have exhausted their order books and replenishment has been “very limited.”

Finally, billing in telecommunications services fell 4% year-on-year and 8% quarterly, with negative trends in all areas except Internet access, which maintains a positive although decreasing pace, while information technologies cut their business volume by 2% in one year. "For the first time in history, all sectors fall. The fall of the hypersector responds to the sum of the negative sign of all segments, which does not allow any compensation," highlighted the president of Aetic, Jesús Banegas.

Less investment in R&D

The manager stressed that it is not "possible" to think of an economic recovery that is not supported by the ICT sector and innovation, which is why he called the Government's policy on R&D&I a "clear error." According to the association's calculations, the new Executive budget for the next year cuts the total public spending dedicated to this matter by 30%.

Specifically, for ICT programs of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce the Government allocates 129.92 million euros, 66% less than in 2009, a year in which spending already decreased by 15%, while for the Ministry of Science and Innovation 1,264.56 million euros will be allocated, 21% less.

“The budgets, instead of helping to get out of the crisis, accentuate the disease even more,” said Banegas, who asked the Government to “rectify” its policy in this matter, since the “current reality” suggests a “pessimistic future.”

Likewise, the president of AETIC referred to the fall in private investment, which may reflect, in his opinion, a decline in business activity, which would be "dramatic." Banegas pointed out that the 31% drop in tax deductions for R&D&I of the Executive "does not help" but rather represents an obstacle.

“The drama we have in Spain is that we spend in those sectors that harm us the most and we save on what can help us get out of the current situation,” explained the manager, who announced that the outlook for the end of the year does not suggest a recovery in the sector, although there may be a “slowdown in falls.”

Finally, Banegas was surprised with the “new turn” experienced in the policy of the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who did more for innovation than his predecessors in the previous legislature, and who now proposes “quite the opposite.”