The market share of the top two data giants, Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, increased yet further still last year, according to Burton-Taylor International Consulting. Although the spend on data vendor solutions was flat from 2007 to 2008, Thomson Reuters garnered 34% of the market and Bloomberg was a close second at the top of the data provider list in 2008 with 24%, as indicated by the consulting firm’s figures.
The impact of the current economic environment was evident in the overall spend on financial information and analysis globally for the year, with US$23.01 billion versus US$22.99 billion in 2007.
The star performers of the other data vendors were FactSet, Interactive Data Corporation and SIX Telekurs, all of who increased their market share during 2008. Interactive Data led the pack with 3.3%, FactSet followed with 2.5% and SIX Telekurs brought up the rear with 1.2%. However, these figures pale into insignificance in comparison to the behemoths at the top of the tree.
According to the regional breakdown, Asia was ahead in spending in 2008 with a 20.3% increase, while Europe, Middle East and Africa grew at just under 7% and the Americas contracted by almost 10%. Unsurprisingly, Thomson Reuters is the market share leader, with Bloomberg second, in each of the three regions. Quick sits third in Asia while SIX Telekurs is third in EMEA and IDC third in the Americas.
The consulting firm predicts a tough 2009 for data vendors in the form of a decline in business of between 1-3%. This decline will be most evident in the Americas but may be offset by modest growth in Asia, fuelled by external investment from Japan and internal investment in China, says Burton-Taylor.
