1991 in Spain began with the exit of two major figures from the IT world. Fernando Asua became honorary chairman and Joaquin Moya took his place, while Siemens-Nixdorf Espana’s delegate adviser, Francisco Robert, made way for Ekkerhard Rost. 1990 had seen the Spanish personal computer market grow by 20%, while Lotus witnessed a 300% increase in spreadsheet sales. In February, the Spanish National Science & Technology plan said that Spain was to increase drastically its research and development spend, and Andersen Consulting established its first Spanish software house in Madrid. At the same time, ANIEL, the Spanish Electronics Association, said that the Spanish information technology sector was growing at 9% per annum, down from the previous year’s 20%.
Loss of market share
In April, Telefonica exchanged its 20% in AT&T Microelectronics de Espana for 6% of AT&T Network Systems International. In the same month, phone rates increased 5.8% on average, but international and long-distance rates fell, the latter by some 63%. The leading Spanish software company, Centro de Calculo de Sabadell, maintained its profit margins in 1990, turning over $73.4m and reporting a cash flow of $4.7m, up by 20% and 14% respectively. In May, the hoary old chestnut of the Spanish tilda re-emerged, and the Informat, the Spanish IT fair, boasted 1,250 exhibitors. The Spanish government finalised a constitutional bill on the control of the automated processing of personal data. The bill was controversial and critics say that officials can gain access to personal data with neither the consent nor knowledge of individuals. By July, Amper announced that it would achieve $545m in 1991, despite a $10.5m loss in 1990, and Ericsson opened a new fibre optics cable plant in Barcelona, the first of its kind in Spain and estimated to cost $13.6m. Its initial production target of 200,000 yards of cable per year will be purely for export. Telefonica and the Spanish institute of Industry’s software companies, Entel and Eria respectively, received government approval to merge and create Eritel, Spain’s leading software house. Apple Espana reported a 73% increase in unit sales and 28% increase in value, while Computer 2000 reported 300% growth on the previous year with a turnover of $24.5m, making it one of Spain’s major dealers. December ushered in the REINA report, REINA ’90, which said that government expenditure grew by 24% to $768m, although an open tender for three radiopaging licences was abandoned for financial reasons by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Overall, 1991 was a bad year for many companies with traditionally solid operations experiencing loss of market share and decline in profits. The Spanish IT market emerged relatively unscathed at the end of the year, but it expects to suffer from those same recessionary factors during the first months of 1992. Analysts say investment is likely to fall this year. The problem is compounded by mergers between financial institutions, government cutbacks and financial restraints on industries formerly hungry for information technology. As regards European Community developments, Spain is likely to see prices fall as value-added tax comes down, and that means increased competition between vendors and suppliers. The high-tech sector is accustomed to spectacular growth, but will have to get used to lower profit margins and overheads.
