IDC, the global market research firm, defines IT and telecommunication trend for 2010 as ‘Recovery’ and ‘Transformation’. After the global economic crisis, the market is slowly recovering and with more investment into IT and telecommunication is expected this year. More importantly, the industry will experience transformation. Faster fiber optic cable network, high-speed wireless network, converged IP delivery platform, and new distribution model will be established and will set new trends for 2010. Also, the powerful cloud computing model is expected to be revealed to general consumer market to transform the IT industry.

IDC’s top 10 trends prediction for 2010 as follows:

1. Mobile devices will have an advantage over PCs in the market. It is not the end of the PC industry. More than 300 million PCs are expected to be sold in 2010. However, mobile devices are not just subservient to PCs anymore and they are considered as an important for both developers and consumers. In 2010, more than one billion mobile devices will have Internet connection capability and smart phones will lead the growth of mobile device industry. With an increase number of mobile devices and applications for mobile devices are also expected to grow.

2. Telecommunication markets will see a great transformation. Due to the global economic recovery, three percent growth is expected this year. IP and data segment will regain its strength in mature markets while mobile segments will show significant growth in emerging markets. The faster network technology will improve converged IP platform that can handle large video data traffic, accelerate the growth of management and service, and transform data delivery service business model.

3. IT industry will see a stable recovery of 3.2 percent growth and two to four percent of an investment increase is predicted for hardware, software, and the service sector. Mobile devices and virtualization market will achieve remarkable achievement. The biggest potential is in the PC and mobile device sectors, and they are expected to bring demand back to the market.

4. The demand for Green IT and sustainability growth is expected to grow. In 2010, the economic recovery will cause energy cost problems again. Currently, G20 countries are responsible for over 70 percent of CO2 emissions, but it can be reduced significantly by using ICT. When IT technology is used - more efficient computers, storages, networks, printers as well as virtualization software and system service automation software, the significant amount of CO2 emissions can be reduced. The demand for companies to use less CO2 emitting technology will grow this year. The industries with high CO2 emissions are expected to use sustainability control solution software, sensor technology, network infrastructure, service management software and analysis software.

5. Emerging markets will lead IT industry in 2010. IDC expects more than half of IT industry growth will be fueled by emerging markets including Brazil, Russia, China, and India. To the contrast, more mature countries will see slow growth in IT industry.

6. The cloud computing in IT industry will expand and mature in 2010. More cloud services models will be developed, especially, in security, usability, and manageability. New cloud computing models for larger enterprises will be introduced using improved technology.

7. Other major industries will become ‘intelligent’ through IT. Various IT technologies will be applied to different industries and more advanced, services will change the aspect of businesses. For example, the utility industry will use smart grid technology for efficient energy management while medical industry will use electronic data charts for convenient data storage. The applications of IT technology will provide new opportunities for other industries.

8. Public networks will be accelerated. Due to cloud service expansion, mobile device and application growth, and video application increase, the demand for public networks is expected to increase in 2010.

9. The next ‘socialytic’ application is expected. Mobile devices, mobile applications, and the cloud service model will make a great impact in the market. Business applications will be revolutionized to meet the higher demand. The social and collaboration software and annalistic features will be added.

10. Transformation will lead M&A. Profitable IT and business solutions can create M&A to expand businesses and meet consumers’ demand. HP-EDS, Oracle-Sun Micro System, Xerox-ACS are good examples as well as Cisco and EMC joint venture. IBM is reducing hardware business relatively in comparison to software business, but there is a high possibility to acquire a network company to compete against rival companies.

The most important theme for the year 2010 is to revive the economy. This year, the modest economy recovery will start transforming various industries, and consumers will see the convergence of their products and services.