Sara Yirrell

Times are definitely tougher for some firms in our industry than others. As talk about the credit crunch becomes part of daily life, it appears that the panic button is finally being pressed in some areas.

Even the chief executive of retail giant DSGi, which released a difficult interim management statement last week showing decreasing PC sales in the UK, admitted things will not get better quickly.

According to DSGi’s head John Browett, customers are beginning to take the credit crunch to heart and tighten their belts. He also said things will not recover until after 2010.

That means another two years of reading the depressing headlines in the national press and listening to it every time you turn on the TV or radio.

A depressing and sobering thought. But contrast that with the comments made by the chief executive of the industry’s largest credit insurer Euler Hermes.

Fabrice Desnos said the IT industry was one of the least affected by the slowdown and was holding its own, despite the difficult conditions.

This is true enough. Our industry has been through some very difficult times and has almost been forced against its will to get into shape.

Yes there will no doubt be some casualties coming up and some companies will struggle more than others, but I am still remaining annoyingly optimistic about the channel’s ability to ride out this particular storm.

Sara Yirrell is editor of CRN ­ sara.yirrell@incisivemedia.com

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!