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Opportunities and the Global Market

The Export Development Executive (EDE) is working with a number of companies on a range of current and emerging opportunities.

A number of key trends are driving technology products and services, and the technology industry in South Australia must be positioned to capitalise on expanding markets within Australia and overseas. As demand and revenue from domestic sources is stabilising, export markets offer a supplementary revenue stream providing a shield against any downturn in Australia.

Even with a marked slowdown in the global market, foreign markets are still sizeable. For example, the defence and secure market represents a significant opportunity for our experienced South Australian defence sector companies. Even with an economy not growing as much as predicted, the China market still represents enormous opportunities.

Many technology solutions will help customers improve their bottom line by providing increased productivity and improved efficiencies – perfect for customers in this current climate. The new Obama administration is planning to spend up big on new infrastructure services, health and education. It has been quoted as saying they will “put the development back into Housing and Urban Development”. Look for increased spending to stimulate the economy and deliver on election promises.

In general, the technology industry boasts rapid growth, fuelled by:

• The need for enterprise economy driven by rising input costs
• The global growth of the Public Sector
• The empowering of communities and communities (eg self serve and on-line connectivity)
• The adoption of data-driven management techniques
• Geopolitical instability (for instance terrorism driving the Defence and Secure market)
• Competition, innovation and technology transfer from other markets
• New platforms demanding new applications (such as mobility, Web 2.0, increased availability of broadband)
• An increase in computer literacy
• Greater awareness of application technology
• Increased wealth and therefore market size, with India, China and the former Soviet Union and new functioning democracies coming on line
• Need for improved infrastructure products and services
• Ubiquitous Internet, providing a platform for web based applications, utilising new network technology, and improved bandwidth
• Greater attention to environmental, security, health and education issues driving demand for applications in these areas.

Recent sales include application development and digital content to the US, business applications to New Zealand, and hospital management software to the Middle East and the UK. Other companies are developing applications in the health sector targeting the US market and simulation software for the transport sectors in Europe, US and China. Recent activity in the electronics sector has targeted transport manufacturers in the US and the emerging China market.

South Australia’s digital content sector is particularly strong, with a notable cluster of successful mobile games and content companies – this is an area of high growth and strong demand.

According to Price Waterhouse Coopers’ (PWC’s) Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006–2010,

“Digital and mobile distribution will become a significant component of the entertainment and media market, fuelled by rising broadband and wireless subscribership.”⁸

Growth in mobile phone ownership is fuelling demand for content. The PWC report cites the number of people with a wireless telephone was 1.8 billion globally in 2005. The report maintains that figure will rise to 2.8 billion by 2010, adding 1 billion potential customers to mobile content during that five-year period.

References

⁸ Price Waterhouse Coopers’ Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006–2010, p14