The information technology (IT) and digital market in Thailand this year is forecast to be worth 527 billion baht, 13.7% larger than the previous year, according to a study by IMC Institute commissioned by the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa).
Of the total, hardware makes up the largest portion at 234 billion baht, followed by smart devices (122 billion), software (106 billion) and digital services (65.2 billion).
The hardware segment (notebooks, PCs, servers, mini-computers, printers, hard disks, storage and SD cards) will grow only 5% this year, bested by digital services (34%), smart devices (20%), and software (17%).
Depa said 2017 was the first year smart devices and digital services were explored as a new trend by the government, business and general public sectors.
The survey found the hardware and smart devices market were valued at 295 billion baht in 2017, with hardware growing 3% last year, said Kasititorn Pooparadai, senior executive vice-president of Depa.
Cheaper equipment, changes in consumer behaviour and investment in data centres and cloud technology were key factors that resulted in hardware growth.
Smart devices, which include CCTV and Bluetooth Smart, are expected to increase 30% in 2018 and 20% in 2019 because the market base is still small and the popularity of big data and Internet of Things (IoT) is growing.
There are few developers and manufacturers of smart devices or IoT equipment because they cannot compete with the completely integrated development of IT operators in China. As a result, they have to import equipment and develop a software controlling those devices and/or act as system integrators.
The software and service market value in 2017 was 78.8 billion baht for software consumption and software services, growing from 1.6% in 2016. In 2018 and 2019, the software consumption and software service market is estimated to grow by 15.2% and 17.5%, respectively.
The overall software and software service industry grew from 2017 as IT software operators have benefited from business transformation, reaping opportunities from new technologies such as cloud, big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain and IoT, as well as the rise of tech startups.
In 2017, digital service operator revenues totalled 36.3 billion baht. Electronic payment services' total revenue was 11.4 billion baht, with content services and entertainment media services claiming the highest users, measured by website visitors.
Thanachart Numnonda, director of the IMC Institute, said the survey and forecast emphasises that all types of industries are challenged by technological changes caused by digital transformation. The key to the industry's growth is the tendency of digital usage in all sectors through social platforms, cashless payments, blockchain, chatbots, programming and video clips that use 3D, augmented reality, and virtual reality, all projected to play a more important role in public relations, advertising and product demonstrations.