Brexit Vote Result Forecast To Slash UK 2016 IT Spending forecast By 10% – Canalys

Uncertainty and economic volatility can be expected to increase over the next nine months, as the Brexit and concerns over the future of the EU hit IT investment, say Canalys market analysts, with spending in the UK to be hit hard due to uncertainties and movements to reduce risk, resulting in a decline in IT spending of up to 10 percent in 2016 and continuing into 2017. Brexit’s implications will be far-reaching and vary in certainty and timing, but a weak UK pound will result in immediately higher technology prices for UK residents.

Canalys expects the uncertain future of the trading relationship between the UK and the EU will hit UK IT spending immediately. Prior to the June 23 referendum, UK unemployment and inflation had been low and the economic outlook positive. However, UK voters’ referendum decision to leave the European Union changes tha outlook radically, with Canalys predicting a range of short- and longer-term implications, the extent of which will be unclear for months, if not years, since it is expected to take at least two years for the UK and the EU to negotiate their divorce and new trading terms.

“Canalys’ IT spending forecast, based on the UK remaining in the EU, was in the range of US$90 billion to US$100 billion in the UK. Canalys now expects this to fall by up to 10% in 2016, based on the public sector and businesses cutting expenditure to reduce risk,” says Matthew Ball, Principal Analyst. “The outlook for 2017 could be even worse, with up to a 15 percent decline as IT budgets are set lower on the prediction of a tough year ahead and ongoing uncertainty.”

Canalys expects some effects to be more imminent than others. Sterling’s fall has added to its continuing volatility against the US dollar, which has been an issue since the start of the year, and the pound could feasibly drop below the US$1.20 mark if confidence deteriorates further and capital continues to flow to safer assets. “This will be a key issue for the IT sector, as technology prices rise due to higher import costs,” says Ball. “In the short term, contracts will have to be renegotiated and proposals requoted due to the strong shift in value. Any new activity will be suspended until rates stabilize. ‘International businesses will have to assess their Sterling cash position and level of exposure, as their assets will be worth less if not adequately hedged against.”

“Trade disruption, political instability, recession, stagflation, talent pool reduction and the collapse of the EU are all potential outcomes that need consideration,” says Research Analyst Claudio Stahnke. “The UK is taking a big gamble on its future. The unprecedented nature of the move to leave makes the true extent of the outcome an unknown. Though there are a number of different scenarios that could play out, what is certain is that we are only at the very start of defining the UK’s new relationship with the EU.”

Canalys perdicts that financial markets will be volatile for at least the next six months, as different data points emerge and prominent business and political leaders pass judgment, and that the UK is in danger of moving into recession, as organizations and consumers look to reduce risk by delaying spending and placing an immediate suspension on all high-value transactions until the situation stabilizes.

For more information, visit:
http://www.canalys.com/

Source: Canalys

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