Good IT sector prospects

Very bright prospects are in store for the Philippine information technology industry this year, according to global intelligence provider International Data Corp. (IDC).

In its recent forecast, IDC said that the IT spending for 2015 in the Philippines is looking at a healthy performance and is expected to grow by 10.1 percent. The strongest increase is in the area of smartphones, followed by midrange enterprise servers, networking equipment, broad IT services and software needs.

IDC notes that central to this development is the positive outlook in the country’s economic indicators and the vibrant spending from the 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, it pointed out.

IDC’s Continuum Survey found that a huge majority of Philippines companies plan to increase their ICT budget and spending in 2015. “This shows a healthy sign for the Philippines in the bigger scheme of things. The 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,” it said.

According to Jubert Daniel Alberto, research manager and country lead for IDC Philippines, while the country’s ICT spending may also be impacted by inhibiting factors such as natural disasters and port congestion, the effects of these would be limited in the short-term period only.

He emphasized IDC’s belief that the country’s rosy economic outlook, growing ICT demand from the consumer and SME sectors, and the increasing requirement for the 3rd platform technologies would shore up the Philippines ICT industry in 2015.

Meanwhile, in line with IDC’s earlier forecast, the IT industry in the Philippines is set to close 2014 with a growth of 11.4 percent. The full-year growth is driven by strong consumer spending, healthy economic fundamentals, and the most recent credit grade improvement, the study revealed.

IDC said that the total IT market for 2014 will reach a full-year total of $6.76 billion, with hardware contributing 76 percent, software and services at seven percent and 18 percent, respectively.

With the country’s GDP seen to grow at 6.3 percent in 2015, IDC expects that the IT industry in 2015 would continue to ride the growth momentum recorded over the recent years. The economic outlook for Philippines is underpinned by robust growth in domestic demand, strong infrastructure spending and implementation of structural economic reforms, it added.

Alberto added that the ‘’changing of the guards” in the homefront has deeply transformed IT spending habits that would cause a stronger demand for mobility, devices, services, and applications across the country. “The increasing ICT demand from SMEs and continued strong BPO performance will also push ICT spending in 2015,” Alberto stressed.

Online car buying, selling

With online shopping being the trend nowadays, more and more websites have emerged over the Internet. But only some have guaranteed and have dished out positive results.

Carmudi, the leading vehicle platform around the world, has recently tapped the Philippine automotive scene in providing buyers, sellers, and car dealers an opportunity to experience safe and convenient online transaction.

Carmudi Philippines, through its website www.carmudi.com.ph, has been generating positive leads for potential car buyers and sellers in the country since it started in January 2014. The website currently has close to 25,000 vehicles in its inventory.

According to Carmudi Philippines managing director Subir Lohani, having the most number of listings is not the main thing that defines Carmudi.com.ph and Carmudi in general. Rather, they look at the quality of listings and the value of the proposition that they offer to both buyers and sellers of vehicles.

Lohani said they envision Carmudi Philippines to become a complete one-stop shop for anything vehicle related such as loans, finding an auto repair shop, tips and tricks for your car, and more.

“Cars are essentially a lifestyle product. Whether it be the brand, model, make, or color, it tells about your individual personality so Carmudi must also evolve into a lifestyle product which we are in process of doing,” he said.

He emphasized that search functionality is one of the most important things that differentiates them from the traditional classifieds and online general classifieds.

Lohani explained that as a dedicated vehicle platform, they realized that buyers want to have the ability to search with certain parameters for their dream cars.

The company prides itself on how both buyers and sellers experience customer satisfaction by looking at the complete data list of each vehicle from multiple pictures, descriptions, identifications, and even on the details of maps of dealership, he noted.

“Being online and having a mobile app has a definite advantage as prospective buyers of vehicles can quickly search with a few swipes of a screen on the go anytime they have a few minutes. Furthermore, once the user sees a vehicle that they are interested in, they can directly sms, email, or call the dealer directly through our online and mobile platforms, which improves efficiency in the overall process,” added Lohani.

Globally, Carmudi has 250,000 up-to-date listings, 9,000 of which are vehicle dealers. Through Carmudi.com.ph, individual vehicle owners could list their vehicles on the platform, while professional sellers could list their vehicles through the platform and receive professional support on how to present themselves and their offerings.

Carmudi was originally founded in Berlin, Germany in 2013 under the Rocket Internet Group, which also include venture companies such as Zalora, Easy Taxi, Lazada, PricePanda, Lamido, Lamudi, and Tripda.

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