The pandemic resulted in a contraction of almost 5% in Thailand’s IT spending in 2020, but it is forecast to bounce back to a 5% growth this year, led by enterprise software, remote working and online education, Gartner reported
IT spending in Thailand is expected to recover and grow 5% this year to 668.2 billion baht (US$2.2 million). The biggest rebound is forecast for enterprise software spending with a 13.6% jump as remote work support is expanded and improved.
Remote work and remote education are also driving demand for tablets and laptops, which is expected to boost growth in device spending by 9.5% this year.
In 2022, IT spending in Thailand is projected to continue to grow with a rise of 5.3% to 703.5 billion baht (US$2.34 million). Enterprise software is forecast to see the biggest growth with an 8.9% surge t, followed by devices with a 5.8% rise.
The expected rebound of the IT market in Thailand in 2021 falls short of projected growth in global IT spending, which is forecast to see 6.2% growth to US$3.92 trillion.
Last year, global IT spending declined 3.2% year-on-year to $3.6 trillion while chief information officers (CIOs) around the world prioritised spending on technology and services deemed “mission-critical during the initial stage of the pandemic”.
“CIOs have a balancing act to perform in 2021 — saving cash and expanding IT,” said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice-president at Gartner.