The Azerbaijani information and communication technology sector (ICT) is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the national economy due its profitability and total profitability of this business.
Information and communication services worth 644.4 million manat were rendered for Azerbaijan's population and organizations in January-May 2016 or 11.1 percent more than in January-May 2015.
Some 81.1 percent of income received through the sector accounted for the non-state enterprises during this period.
Around 71.9 percent of the total volume of information and communication services accounted for the services rendered to the population.
Some 50.1 percent of a total volume of obtained income accounted for mobile services.
A volume of revenues obtained from mobile services in Azerbaijan reached 323.1 million manat in January-May 2016.
The income in the mobile communication sector declined by 7.4 percent in January-May 2016 compared to January-May 2015.
е-signature
The total number of electronic digital signatures (e-signatures) issued by the Azerbaijani National Certification Services Center in May 2016 increased by 3.1 percent and reached 90,530 as of June 1.
The state bodies were provided with 59,100 e-signatures, 15,310 e-signatures were issued to the legal entities and 16,120 to citizens.
As of May, some 2,792 e-signature certificates were issued. The employees of state organizations received 2,318 certificates of the total volume, physical entities – 46 certificates and legal entities – 428 certificates.
Some 422 services of the total number of approved electronic services (461) are available on the "electronic government" (e-gov.az) portal. The total number of e-services placed on the websites of Azerbaijani state organizations is 498.
E-signature simplifies the citizens' access to e-services of the state organizations, which are available on the "Electronic Government" portal (e-gov.az).
The e-signature with a three-year period of its use costs 18 manat for Azerbaijani citizens. The e-signature for legal and physical entities engaged in entrepreneurial activity, costs 36 manat and 72 manat respectively, while 80 manat for employees of state institutions.
PC market
According to the Global Stats statistical center, the stationary desktop sale continued to decrease in May.
A 5.6 percent growth in stationary computer sales was registered in February 2016 compared to January 2016. But the sale volumes have decreased since March. As of late May, the stationary computer market decreased by 6.7 percent.
The market share of stationary desktop computers reached 48.3 percent in Azerbaijan as of June 1, 2016 or by 12.8 percent less compared to the same period of 2015.
As opposed to stationary desktop computers, stable sale growth was observed on the market of portable computers (notebooks and netbooks).
This market segment increased by almost 9 percent in Azerbaijan from February till late May 2016.
The market share of laptops in Azerbaijan makes up 47.3 percent as of June 1 or by 18.9 percent more than the same period of 2015.
Some 4.7 percent accounted for the tablet computer market. This market segment has decreased by 6.1 percent since early 2016.
Internet resources
The activity of Facebook users increased by 2.8 percent in Azerbaijan in January-May 2016.
As of June 1, 2016, the share of Facebook in Azerbaijan amounted to 93.4 percent or by 6.7 percent more than in the same period of 2015. By popularity Facebook ranked first on the Azerbaijani social media market.
Twitter with a 3.6 percent market share ranks second. Twitter users’ activity decreased by 9.8 percent for the first five months of 2016.
Pinterest social network ranks third with a 1.02 percent market share, Tumblr – 0.71 percent, VKontakte - 0.47 percent, Youtube – 0.26 percent, Google+ - 0.15 percent and others.