Emerging economies like India, China to drive global IT investments: Report

NEW DELHI: Emerging market economies like India, China and Malaysia are likely to drive global IT investments and are expected to account for 35 per cent of the total global IT spend by 2020, says a report.

Growing economic powers with sizable consumptions would lead the next wave of technology investments, the report by market research firm Zinnov said.

Zinnov has placed India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, that constitute 40 per cent of the total world population, in emerging+ (E+) economies category.

According to the report, the total number of Forbes 2000 enterprises from E+ economies, are set to grow by 300 per cent by 2020; while the number of US enterprises in the list could face a decline.

"China boasts a strong economy with 95,000 large and mid size enterprises followed by India with 55,000, while US stands at 41,000 enterprises only," the report said.

As per the findings, E+ economies would have a potential internet user base of 2,256 million by 2020. China with 42 per cent penetration has a current internet user base of 564 million while developed economy of US stands at 244 million with 78 per cent penetration.

India stands second after China with a 157 million internet user base but with a low penetration of 11 per cent which shows a tremendous growth opportunity.

Smartphone users in E+ economies are also growing at a strong pace and are likely to reach 1,795 million by 2020.

China leads the E+ with 330 million smartphone users followed by 52 million in Indonesia. India stands third with 44 million smartphone users. As per the report, increasing data consumption and smartphone penetration is creating newer opportunities in the telecom space.

"While the basic IT infrastructure is fast growing in E+ economies, mobile internet is increasingly becoming key as compared to desktop internet in these countries. Mobile internet VAS revenues are expected to be over $ 22 billion by 2016 and presents great opportunity for technology companies," Zinnov Director-Market Expansion Praveen Bhadada said.