IDC: Asia-Pacific packaged software market to grow by double digits again this year

tmily

IDC: Asia-Pacific packaged software market to grow by double digits again this year [Copy link]

[Abstract] Singapore, January 20, 2005 - According to IDC's recent forecast for the packaged software market, the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) packaged software market is expected to grow by 10.8% in 2005. This is a slight decrease from the 14.5% growth in 2004, mainly due to the impact of price competition, the introduction of more bundled solutions, and industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In

2004, the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) packaged software market reached US$10.87 billion, a significant increase of 14.5% over the previous year. Mr. Xu Junwei, Director of Software Research, IDC Asia-Pacific, said: "This phenomenon shows that the software industry has seen a gratifying rebound, and enterprises are beginning to try more software features and hope to move to a more dynamic business/IT architecture." In 2004, Australia had the largest share of the packaged software market in the region, with 26.2%; followed by China, with 23.8%; and South Korea, with 15.9%. Mr. Xu Junwei also said, "We expect the top two market share positions to swap this year, with China's share reaching 25.8% and Australia's share decreasing to 24.9% accordingly."

　　IDC's report "2005 Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) Software Market Major Forecast" analyzes the major trends that will dominate the region's software industry news headlines and the development of the industry in the next 12 months. The report integrates the research results of more than 20 experienced software analysts in the region, and on this basis, conducts a macro-level analysis of the industry trends, manufacturer strategies and new technology developments that will have a major impact on the software industry and software manufacturers in 2005.

　　IDC's main forecasts for the software market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) in 2005:

　　Linux software license revenue is expected to increase from $6.48 million in 2004 to $11.6 million in 2005, a year-over-year increase of 78.6%. IDC expects vendors and their partners to introduce better management tools and utility software, enhance platform stability, and develop features and functions that match or exceed those of other platforms.

　　As Web services deployment matures and user experience increases, enterprises will have a deeper understanding of the architecture, philosophy, and benefits of Web services deployment, so the number of Web services projects will increase, and the number of these projects adopting service-oriented architecture (SOA) will also increase.

　　· In 2005, the business intelligence (BI) software and enterprise application (EA) markets will continue to merge. Enterprise application vendors and pure business intelligence software vendors will further integrate, and business intelligence functions will be embedded in enterprise application solutions. IDC also predicts that in 2005, vendors will launch a low-end business intelligence solution that meets the needs of the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) market, thereby consolidating their market position. In 2005, the business intelligence tool market in the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) region will grow by 12.2% to reach US$246 million.

　　· Vendors will place a heavy emphasis on hybrid software systems and pay less attention to pure network or security management systems. The network management software market is expected to grow 8.7% in 2005 to $207 million, while the security software market is expected to grow 18.9% to $818 million.

　　· As more and more enterprises consider reducing the complexity of their IT infrastructure, integrated server software platforms will become the most dazzling star in the middleware market. Application and integrated server software products will be further integrated, laying the foundation for the further integration of the two markets in the future. This integration trend will have an adverse impact on market revenue, but will further increase the user application ratio. In 2005, the market size of application server software products (ASSP) and integrated server software products (ISSP) will reach US$235 million and US$186 million respectively.

　　· For the content management market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), IDC predicts that there will be a large number of industry mergers and acquisitions in 2005, with suppliers focusing on different market segments merging with each other. Overall, the content management market in the region is expected to grow by 13.4% in 2005 to reach US$137 million.

　　Due to the emergence of integrated network threats, there will be strong demand for multi-functional security packages that include anti-virus, firewall, virtual private network (VPN), intrusion detection and anti-spam functions. In 2005, this market will show a significant increase of 18.9% and the market size will reach US$818 million.

　　· The market is very interested in radio frequency identification (RFID). Manufacturers in Asia will be forced to upgrade or replace their existing logistics or distribution system modules to implement RFID functions. Industries that are expected to adopt this technology early include retail, packaged consumer goods manufacturing, logistics supply and wholesale distribution. Many companies will first meet the current industry agreement requirements with the least investment and increase the application of RFID technology after it matures.

　　· As the number of vendors offering software as a service increases, the business community in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will have more interest in such services. So far, the market opportunities for software as a service in the region may still be limited to two countries with higher IT development levels, such as Australia and South Korea. However, IDC also expects that Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and the mainland will provide more opportunities for software as a service in the future, just like Australia and South Korea.

　　· The convergence of server and storage platforms will drive vendors to launch more innovative bundled solutions. The storage software market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) reached $481 million in 2004 and is expected to reach $553 million in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 15%. Financial services, telecommunications and manufacturing companies in the region will be the main drivers of storage software spending. There will also be a wave of mergers and acquisitions in this area, as vendors seek to acquire or merge to own complementary technologies - such as asset management, patch management, and security management (especially identity management).

　　· Software vendors will expand the number of partners and strategic alliances, and increase the number of people involved in developing partner business, as they increasingly view such activities as a key part of their "go-to-market" strategy. However, the biggest challenge facing partner and alliance relationships in the near and medium term will be the lack of adequate and appropriate alliance management resources.

　　Growth of the packaged software market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan)

　　In the SME market, as software applications have become more common, the number of software users will certainly continue to increase, although the growth momentum of the market size has slowed down. "Except for five countries, most countries in the region will have a single-digit growth rate between 5.2% and 9.6% next year," said Mr. Xu Junwei. "These five countries - China, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam - will show double-digit growth ranging from 11.2% to 19.9%. China and India will naturally continue to play the role of market engines, with their market growth rates reaching 19.9% and 19.5% respectively in 2005."

Source: Sohu