Germany - Country Commercial Guide
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.

Last published date: 2020-10-07

Overview

 

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 (Estimated)

Total Local Production

174.6

182.2

196.4

192.8

181.6

Total Exports

39.4

43.0

43.0

n/a

n/a

Total Imports

64.5

71.8

68.8

n/a

n/a

Imports from the U.S.

2.2

2.4

2.4

n/a

n/a

Total Market Size

199.7

211.0

221.8

n/a

n/a

Exchange Rates

1.1069

1.1297

1.1810

1.140

1.1104

(in Billion USD | total market size = (total local production + imports) – exports)

Germany has one of the largest ICT markets in the world and the single largest software market in Europe with 90,331 IT companies and 990,000 employees in 2019. There is a strong demand for U.S. products and services across all segments. Key players such as Microsoft, Apple, Dell, Adobe, IBM, Oracle and SAP have large market shares. There are also many highly specialized SME’s in the market. According to the German Association for Information Technology, Bitkom, the subsector market sizes in 2019 (in USD billion) were: IT-hardware 29.9, software 29,8, IT-services 44.1, consumer electronics 10.0, telecommunication devices 12.8 and telecommunication infrastructure 8.0. Bitkom expects a decrease in the total local production in 2020 as a result of the ongoing worldwide health crisis across all ICT sectors.

Germany hosts several key ICT trade shows, making it a premier marketplace for U.S. companies to reach global partners and buyers. U.S. exhibitors have frequently found buyers from Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America at the IFA Berlin, IT-SA, Gamescom or Embedded World. In 2020, several trade shows have been canceled, postponed or will take place as a virtual only event as a result of the ongoing health crisis.

Policy Objectives and challenges

ICT is a priority sector for the German government. Germany’s economic and innovation policy is outlined in the Digital Agenda of the BMWi (Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy). It focuses on digital infrastructure, digital economy, digital workplaces, innovative public administration, digital environments in society, education, research, science, culture and media, security, protection and confidence for society and business.

Policy objectives include cybersecurity, the digitization of the German economy and the expansion of the German broadband network. Challenges include the impact of the EU Digital Single Market, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the E-privacy Regulation on ICT companies, and the latest cybersecurity policy developments.

The U.S. Commercial Service follows these developments and continues to work with associations and multipliers such as BMWi (German Federal Economics Ministry), Bitkom (Association for Information Technology), BDI (Federation of German Industries), GTAI (Germany Trade and Investment) and AmCham (American Chamber of Commerce) to unearth opportunities and flag policy concerns.

Leading Sub-Sectors

Key segments and topics of interest include Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Big Data, Health IT, Cloud Computing, Business IT: ERP, Data Centers, Smart Social Business Platforms, Integrated Systems, Virtual & Augmented Reality and Digital Factory. 

Opportunities

  • IT Security
  • Health IT
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Smart Social Business Platforms
  • Big Data (hardware, infrastructure, services, database and analytics technologies)
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (industry-specific ERP solutions)

 

Resources

Trade events

Gamescom

Interactive games and entertainment

Digital only in 2020, Cologne, August 27-30, 2020

IFA Berlin

Consumer electronics and home appliances

Digital with smaller physical live events in 2020, Berlin, September 3 – 5, 2020

it-sa

IT security: cloud, mobile & cyber security, data & network security

Nuremberg, October 12-14, 2021

ISE-Europe

AV and integrated system

Barcelona, February 2-5, 2021

InfoSecurity Europe

Information security

London, June 8-10, 2021

Embedded Word

Embedded Systems

Nuremberg, March 2-4, 2021

AngaCom

Telecommunications

Cologne, June 8-10, 2021

 

Trade Associations

Bitkom, Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunication and New Media 

Bitmi, Federal Association for Medium-Sized IT Businesses

Teletrust, IT Security Association Germany

ECO, Association of the Internet Industry

NIFIS, National Initiative for Information- and Internet-Security

German Games Industry Association, Organization that represents the German computer and video games industry

VATM, Association of Telecommunication and Value-Added Service Providers

Government Entities

Federal Office for Information Security, National cyber security authority in Germany

German Regulatory Authority, Ensures compliance with the Telecommunications Act (TKG), Postal Act (PostG) and Energy Act (EnWG) and their respective ordinances

Trade Publications

Computer Woche, Weekly newspaper for CIOs and IT-Managers about computers and information technology

CRN, Computer Reseller News magazine, Channel Partner, Portal for Technology trends, Channel-News and strategic advice for computer retailers, ICT dealers and distributors

EITO, The European IT Observatory, offering reports on the ICT and Consumer Electronics markets in Europe and Internationally