The Swedish ICT market was estimated at around USD 14 billion in 2002 and is forecast to grow by ca. 4% in 2003. As much as 9.3% of GDP is invested in IT.  Telecom services captured the lion's share of the ICT market (41%) in 2002, followed by IT services (21%), hardware (14%), software (11%), infrastructure (7%), terminals (4%), and office equipment (2%).
There were around 37,500 companies in the sector in 2002 with around 230,000 employees.  The majority of the companies were in the software services and supply sector. Key specialties in the sector include development of wireless communications and technology, telematics, mobile applications and industrial IT. The drivers behind the growth in the application software segment include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), security, continued globalization of business and e-business.

Around 75% of all enterprises with more than 10 employees have their own web pages and around 45% of all enterprises with more than 10 employees have access to the Internet via high-speed connection. Swedish companies have used e-commerce for many years, especially B2B between large companies via electronic data interchange (EDI). Around 60% of Swedish companies with more than 200 employees make electronic purchases and around 42% of Swedish companies with more than 200 employees sell electronically.

Penetration of computers and telephones is very high in Sweden and in the age group 18-65, around 70% have access to a computer at home, and 90% in this group have access to the Internet. Internet penetration in al homes is around 60% and penetration of mobile phones is 89%.  Expansion of broadband is fairly rapid, and 35% of Internet customers currently have high-speed access. By the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004 it is forecast that broadband connections will outnumber dial-up access, which will mean that more than 30% of Sweden's households will be online all the time.  

WiFi equipment sales increased by 120% in 2002 and will continue to expand with falling prices.  E-commerce will continue to grow. In 2002, Swedes shopped online for around USD 1 billion, an increase of 50% compared to 2001. B2B commerce is expected to double in 2004 according to the Swedish business weekly Affarsvarlden. Swedes will continue to buy new computers that can download music, films, etc. New products will be launched on the market; tablet PCs, MP3 players, etc, etc.  3G will be introduced on a broader scale and there will be higher demand for new mobile phones that can take advantage of the new technology.   In the software segment, security solutions will continue to be in demand, as will software for customer relationship management, supply chain management, analytics as well as mobile applications.

A number of foreign companies have established research and development centers in Sweden particularly in the wireless sector, among them are Motorola, Intel, IBM, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems.

October, 2003

The Stockholm School of Business...where I did a lot of research