According to the recently issued Worldwide Semiannual Mobility Spending Guide, International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts a stable consumer and enterprise mobility market in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region over the 2016-2020 period. Total CEE market revenue is expected to increase from $60.9 billion in 2016 to $64.7 in 2020, reflecting a 1.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Connectivity services will represent the largest category of mobility spending over the forecast period, with a slightly decreasing share of the overall market. Hardware investments will contribute over 36% to mobility spending, with consumers and businesses purchasing mainly smartphones and notebooks. Mobility software spending will not exceed 1% of the mobility market, but it will be the fastest growing submarket with a CAGR of almost 15% over the five-year forecast period. Businesses will especially focus on investing into mobile applications and application development platforms.

In terms of industries, banking is one of the highest contributors to mobility market spending, as well as being the fastest-growing vertical market, with a predicted CAGR of 6.1%. Other big spenders will be retail, manufacturing, and professional services. Insurance and resource industries will also record CAGRs above 5%, placing them among the fastest-growing verticals. The consumer mobility market is nearly saturated, which will be reflected in the sector’s 0.8% CAGR.

“As the enterprise mobility market matures, enterprises’ application demand will become more complex and varied," says Elena Szolgayova, research analyst for IDC's Customer Insights and Analysis. “This will start shifting the focus from mobility management solutions towards application development platforms over the forecast period.”

From a company size perspective, small offices with 1 to 9 employees will generate almost 84% of CEE mobility revenues. That said, very large businesses (over 1,000 employees) will be the fastest-growing segment, with a 5.4% CAGR in mobility spending. Small businesses tend to concentrate on hardware and services investments, their larger counterparts have a higher share of software investments driving their mobility investment growth.

Compared to the overall worldwide mobility market, the CEE region will grow slightly slower, with growth rates for most individual countries remaining flat. As the Russian economy gradually recovers, it will become the fastest-growing country in the region in terms of mobility investments, with a CAGR of 2.8%.

IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Mobility Spending Guide is designed to address the needs of technology organizations assessing the mobile opportunity by country, industry, and company size perspective. The spending guide provides subscribers with spending data on seven technologies across 19 industries, four company size bands, and 53 countries. Unlike any other research in the industry, the comprehensive spending guide can help IT decision makers to clearly understand the industry-specific scope and direction of mobility spending today and over the next five years.