"Already in 2012, only 9% of the global information and communications technology (ICT) revenues of the top 100 ICT companies were generated in Europe. In 2015, this share fell and is now at 7% to 8%. Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia business devices has probably contributed somewhat to this decline," explains Marko Derča, Vice President, A.T. Kearney, adding that: "Even though some European firms, such as CAP Gemini, Atos, T-Systems, Ericsson, Nokia, SAP, NXP and ST Microelectronics are slightly behind in the world ranking of the 100 most successful high-tech companies, they have managed to maintain and consolidate their positions."

With a 35% - 40% share of revenues, Europe dominates mostly in the segment of communications equipment and services. "The merger of the two giants, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia, created a new European champion in this segment. In the semiconductor sector, the merger between NXP and US-Freescale enabled Europe to climb again among the top ten. Leading firms in the field of high-tech have used mergers and acquisitions to consolidate their positions in one of the main areas of strength - complex solutions for B2B communication," explains Derča.

On the other hand, companies from other continents have moved higher on the scale and thereby prevent the European high-tech sector dominating in this field. At this point, we can highlight Lenovo, which has consolidated at third place in the ranking in the devices segment by acquiring Motorola and Dell. At the same time, Lenovo has become the fifth most successful company in IT services and software through the merger with EMC.

Europe can catch the global high-tech industry by focusing on the Internet of Things

The latest A.T. Kearney study on the Internet of Things shows that solutions related to the Internet of Things can create market value of EUR 80bn in Europe over the next ten years. Such solutions could benefit system integration, services, platform integrator, system and software resellers and many others.

"The Internet of Things offers a new wave of growth, which Europe could use for further strengthening of its high-technology sector. Despite the difficult situation, Europe has many qualities to become the leader in the field of the Internet of Things. European power is in key verticals, such as health, transportation and industry, and in emerging new providers of Internet of Things solutions, such as ARM in the field of chip design. We can also highlight new and exciting start-ups, such as Riot OS, Arduni and Raspberry Pi, and leading global players in communications equipment and services, such as Ericsson and Nokia. These are just some examples of why Europe and European companies could become the leaders in the field of the Internet of Things. With proper measures, the high-tech situation in 2025 could be substantially different, but it is necessary to start now," believes Marko Derča.