OECD: IT sector on road to recovery

The ICT industry might be "on the road to recovery" after an increase in sales, according to a new report released today.

The report, from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said there has been a growth in production for ICT products in most countries, due to the need to re-fill stockrooms that had been overflowing with unsold goods up until recently.

The report said: "The ICT industry had a tough start to 2009, with almost all first quarter indicators declining, often very sharply."

"There are signs of recovery, with the rate of decline bottoming out and turning up in the most recent cyclical data (May/June 2009), with positive month-on-month growth for most countries, and inventories running down sharply."

Breaking it down into sectors, the report showed hardware was more severely hit than services in this recession.

However, the services sector was still worse off compared to how it fared in the bust in 2001.

Research and development (R&D) had declined and ICT employment had fallen, but not as badly as in other industries, said the report.

It said: "A sudden upturn in global sales of information and communications technology goods in May and June suggests the ICT industry may have reached a turning point."