For the first nine months of 2007, sales of computer and telecommunication hardware in Bulgaria, including mobile phones and base stations, had reached $659.8 million (460.8 million euro), the Bulgarian agency for market analysis and research CBN said.

Growth of sales was 21 per cent compared to the same period last year, Dnevnik daily said.

At the same time, average prices in some of the market segments had fallen, CBN said. The rate of growth was visibly slower compared to previous years, largely because of lower prices.

A steady growth had been achieved in market segments for laptop computers, monitors and components, like optics and hard disks.
While brand-name computer sales dropped, brand-name laptops were the exception, CBN said.

Annual sales for ICT in Bulgaria were expected to reach a new all-time record for the country at $1 billion (689 million euro).
While annual growth for Bulgaria for 2007 was expected to reach 25.1 per cent, according to IDC Bulgaria.

The figures were presented at a forum on IT expenditures in vertical markets in Bulgaria for the period 2006 to 2001, Dnevnik daily said.

"Investments in hardware in Bulgaria will grow on average with 15.4 per cent annually until 2011, in software with 10.8 per cent and in services with 17 per cent," Neli Vacheva of IDC Bulgaria said.

Largest users of IT solutions were state administration, banks and telecommunication sectors. Their market share was expected to stay the same over the next several years. Among biggest challenges for growth in the market were the lack of sufficiently qualified staff in almost all sectors, inefficiency of foreign investments and suspicions of corruption in the distribution of public procurement orders.