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Asia-Pacific: A rising dragon
Whilst mature markets provide stable revenue for IT Vendors, it is Asia-Pacific which is providing the big growth opportunities, especially in emerging economies of South-East Asia and the Indian sub-continent.
It is crucial for Vendors to establish themselves in Asia now to position themselves at the front of this aggressive growth curve. Gaining a foothold in Asia-Pacific maximizes the ISV’s sales opportunities and valuation, making them attractive propositions for an IPO.
In 2005 alone, the Asia-Pacific SaaS enterprise applications market stood at US$80 million. This market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 84% from 2005 to 2008, faster than either Europe or North America.
A survey conducted by Springboard Research revealed that 41% of SMEs in Asia were aware of the SaaS concept. Furthermore, SMEs who have not adopted a SaaS model have expressed plans to do so within the next 12 months.
Internet Penetration in Asia
Higher than expected internet penetration in the region continue to facilitate and grow the potential for SaaS. By June 2006, there were an estimated 486 million internet users in Asia and China alone. This number continues to grow rapidly with leapfrog technologies like Wimax which is estimated to make up 60% of the wireless broadband market by 2008 globally, with 45% of the user base expected to come from Asia.
Asian enterprises are proving to be more innovative in the commercial application of broadband technologies, further perpetuating the growth of SaaS enabled technologies.
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