THAILAND:IT spending to grow 9.3%
IDC predicts Thailand will have the 4th fastest-growing IT market in the region after India, China and Vietnam
The
total printer and inkjet-based multi-function device (MFD) market in
2008 is projected to be around 1,248,500 units, up 4.7 per cent over
the previous year, of which inkjets had the highest proportion with
over 570,000 units, or 45.8 per cent of the total printer market.
However, compared to 2006, sales of stand-alone inkjet printers
decreased last year by 12 per cent as market demand shifted to
inkjet-based MFDs.IDC estimates that inkjet MFDs in 2007 accounted for
more than 487,000 units, growing by 34.2 per cent over 2006.
In
2008, IDC expects that the proportion of the two segments will change,
as inkjet MFDs will dominate the printer market, overtaking inkjet
printers.Thelaser-based MFD market in 2007 was estimated to be 64,878
units, growing 16 per cent over 2006, with laser copier-based MFDs
gaining the highest proportion, or 49 per cent, while laser
printer-based MFDs had 40 per cent, and laser fax-based MFDs 11 per
cent. Among the three technologies, laser printer-based MFDs would see
the highest growth because of more new technologies as well as pricing
and the promotion of products.
The SMB market here will present
opportunities due to there being more awareness than before, and IDC
says that vendors will aggressively address this sector, offering
simple and affordable solutions. Service oriented architecture (SOA)
will boom as vendors are generating awareness and are introducing new
products and solutions. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is
emerging and is a promising technology in Thailand, but the early
adopters would be high-end customers. The market would also see the
emergence of local independent software vendors with strong support
from government agencies such as Software Park, the analysts
added.Spending on IT services will account for 19 per cent of the total
spending, amounting to around 30 billion baht and representing a 13 per
cent jump over 2007. System integration services will rank first in
terms of market value, while services related to enterprise IT
operations will experience the highest growth rate in terms of volume.