With two excellent years in 2007 and 2008, the broadcast and media technology industry is enduring a difficult year in 2009 with limited confidence for a rapid recovery. This is the finding of the latest International Association of Broadcast Manufacturers industry trends survey, carried out in association with Ernst & Young.

In this survey, carried out in May 2009, 68% of respondents felt that next quarter will be the same or better than the last quarter, but 43% stated that confidence for next year is diminished or diminished significantly. Looking ahead six months there was a broad spread of opinion: 29% thought things will be improving, 31% that they will be about the same, and 24% saw a continuing deterioration in the situation.

While customer deferrals are seen as the major limiting factor in business growth, cited by 45% of the survey, only 8% put the blame on the availability of finance. The major impact of the credit squeeze is seen in the manufacturers own ability to fulfil orders: a year ago only 9% of manufacturers surveyed quoted finance as a constraint on output; today it has quadrupled to 36%. The need to control costs is also likely to show an impact on future innovation, with 17% of manufacturers reducing R & D investment.

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