The world has experienced a period of profound economic dislocation since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Economic activity fell sharply and confidence collapsed in developed economies as the credit crisis unfurled. In sharp contrast, economic growth accelerated over this period in many developing economies led by the rising economic powerhouses of China and India. The technology, media and telecoms sectors were not immune from these developments and some companies in these sectors were badly affected.
Two years on from Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, we wanted to understand what the growth prospects are for the technology, media and telecoms sectors and how that growth will be achieved. In particular, we were interested to know to what extent growth would be achieved through investment in new markets and through mergers and acquisitions.
In order to gain real insight into these issues, partners from across our international network conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior executives at leading technology, media and telecoms companies. The businesses interviewed were headquartered in wide range of countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and operated in a variety of industry sub-sectors. The aggregate annual revenue of the businesses interviewed was in excess of $150 billion.
The process of preparing the report enabled us to get a real understanding of the issues currently facing companies in the technology, media and telecoms sectors.
Key findings
- that growth prospects in the technology, media and telecoms sectors are good and that, increasingly, much of this growth will come from China, South East Asia and India
- that companies in these sectors are "risk tolerant" – they will enter new markets if the opportunities outweigh the risks
- there is likely to be an increase in M&A activity in the technology, media and telecoms sectors.
Download the Communications, media and technology report: the search for growth (pdf 3.26 MB).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.