The worst of the recession might be over, but in some technology
areas the past six months have seen continued growth, particularly
with netbooks and the multifunction printers.
In its half-year review, GfK
Retail and Technology UK revealed that its consumer confidence
index had risen by 9 points higher than the same time last year and
showed there were continued areas of growth.
Along with netbooks and MFDs, there was also growth in media
gateways, communication devices and digital photo frames.
Netbooks grew in excess of 100% in terms of sales units for the
first six months of 2009 compared to the same period last year.
MFDs were up by a couple of percent, whereas traditional printers
dropped by 40%.
"Things are looking a bit better than they have been for some
markets. Some have been more resilient to the conditions than
others. Nevertheless, there is still a bit further to go before we
can say that the worst is over," wrote Sean Fellows, an analyst at
GfK, in the company's half-year newsletter.
A version of this story originally appeared on
Microscope.