The Rise of China Will Propel the Asia-Pacific Region to Exceed Global IT Growth Rates by 2006.
According to a report on global IT development trends by the technology research firm Gartner, the IT market in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications, is projected to reach $210 billion by 2006, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5%. (In comparison, global IT sales in 2006 are expected to be $1.768 trillion, with a CAGR of 4.5% per year).
In recent years, language barriers have been a significant obstacle to the growth of China’s IT sector. However, this issue is expected to be resolved by 2008, coinciding with China becoming the country with the largest number of English speakers in the world.
This shift will enable Chinese IT companies to penetrate various sectors of the economy, directly compete with India, and allow the world’s most populous country to establish new technological gateways to the world, such as Beijing and Shanghai, alongside Hong Kong, which is considered a hub for global IT and telecommunications. Singapore stands to benefit the most as China overcomes language barriers, given its long-standing partnership with China in the IT sector and business in general.
The IT development trends in this region for 2006 will focus on consumer technology, mobile broadband, and integrated business models. The rapid advancement of IT in China and India will not only boost bilateral trade but also enhance the competitiveness of IT companies from both countries, enabling them to successfully penetrate emerging markets worldwide.
“Once the GDP budget allocated for Research and Development (R&D) in the region increases, we will see Asian countries focus more on intellectual property rights protection,” said Dion Wiggins, Vice President of Gartner.
A noteworthy trend highlighted in the report is the widespread adoption of open-source software (OSS) in the massive markets of China and India, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises. By 2010, open-source software is expected to capture 20% of the global software market, taking over $100 billion in revenue from traditional closed-source software vendors.
With rapidly growing design and technological innovation capabilities, we will witness a strong shift in Asia from being viewed as a lucrative market for IT product suppliers to becoming a breeding ground for designing and manufacturing world-class IT products.
Ba Lam
