According to IDC's latest global semi-annual telecommunications service tracking report, in 2020, global spending on telecommunications and Pay TV services will reach US$1.565 trillion, a 1.1% decrease from the previous year. IDC predicts that the market will resume growth next year, but it will not reach the pre-COVID-19 spending level before 2022.
IDC’s latest forecast for telecom service spending is more optimistic than the forecast released in September, mainly because the results reported by telecom operators in the Asia-Pacific region (especially China) were better than expected. China's rapid economic recovery has brought a new wave of optimism and increased demand for telecommunications services. At the same time, India, the third largest market in the Asia-Pacific region, has also experienced unexpected positive changes. Although IDC's forecast for the Indian market is still negative, the decline has narrowed compared to the previous one, thus enhancing the performance of the entire Asia-Pacific region.
IDC has not yet made major changes to its forecasts for the Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) markets. Due to the economic recession caused by the epidemic, IDC's forecast of a slight decline in telecommunications service spending seems to have become a reality. IDC believes that since telecommunications services are guaranteed by long-term contracts, the new lock-in measures in the largest countries/regions in the European market should not have an immediate impact on the telecommunications market. In addition, many European countries have adopted other measures to protect businesses and ordinary people from the economic impact of the pandemic, so a substantial decline in demand is unlikely.
The latest forecast data shows that in 2020, the revenue of the Americas telecom service market will be US$620 billion, a slight decrease of 0.7% compared to the previous year; the Asia-Pacific telecom service market revenue will be US$477 billion, which is 0.6% compared to the previous year; EMEA telecom service revenue US$46.7 million, a slight decrease of 1.1% compared to the previous year.
IDC’s latest global semi-annual telecommunications service tracking report confirms that during the COVID-19 period, the telecommunications industry is still one of the most resilient industries in the global economy. Carrie MacGillivray, vice president and general manager of IDC’s Global Telecommunications, Mobility and Internet of Things Research Department, said: “The telecommunications service sector is better able to withstand the COVID-19 storm than other ICT sectors. In this unprecedented period, connectivity has always been the key to maintaining personal contact and business operations. COVID-19 is the beginning of the connected future, and we will use it as a case study in the next few years."
