In line with IDC’s earlier forecast, the IT industry in the Philippines is set to close the year with a growth of 11.4% compared with 2013. The full-year growth is driven by strong consumer spending, healthy economic fundamentals, and the most recent, credit grade improvement. The total IT market will reach a full-year total of USD 6.76 billion, with hardware contributing 76%, software and services at 7% and 18%, respectively.
With the country’s GDP seen to grow at 6.3% in 2015, IDC believes the IT industry in 2015 will continue to ride the growth momentum recorded over the recent years. The economic outlook for the Philippines is underpinned by robust growth in domestic demand, strong infrastructure spending, and the implementation of structural economic reforms.
“The ‘changing of the guards’ in the home front has deeply transformed IT spending habits that will cause a stronger demand for mobility, devices, services, and applications across the country. The increasing ICT demand from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and continued strong business process outsourcing (BPO) performance will also push ICT spending in 2015,” says Jubert Daniel Alberto, research manager and country lead for IDC Philippines.
The IT spending for 2015 in the Philippines is looking at a healthy performance and is expected to grow 10.1%. The strongest increase is in the area of smartphones, followed by midrange enterprise servers, networking equipment, broad IT services, and software needs. Central to this development is the positive outlook in the country’s economic indicators and the vibrant spending from consumer sector that indicates an ongoing change in the nature of spending. The Philippines has a large and growing working-age population, and half of the population is under the age of 24.
IDC’s Continuum Survey finds huge majority of Philippine companies looking to increase ICT budget and spending in 2015. This shows a healthy sign for the Philippines in the bigger scheme of things. ICT spending is expected to be heavily impacted by the 3rd Platform and usage of these technologies is being driven by the needs of companies seeking for new and effective ways for better engagement.
“While the country’s ICT spending may also be impacted by inhibiting factors such as natural disasters and port congestion, the effects of these will be limited in short-term period only. IDC believes the country’s rosy economic outlook, growing ICT demand from the consumer and SME sectors, and the increasing requirement for the 3rd Platform technologies will shore up the Philippine ICT industry in 2015,” adds Jubert.
