The value of Thailand's market for information and communications technology this year is expected to come in at Bt595.6 billion, up from Bt555.5 billion in 2009, according to a report by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre.
Nectec's "Thailand ICT 2009 and Market Outlook 2010" report was put together in cooperation with the Software Industry Promotion Agency.
Computer services are expected to experience the highest growth at 18 per cent, followed by computer hardware at 8.9 per cent, communications technology at 5.6 per cent and computer software at 5.5 per cent.
Communications technology will still account for the largest portion of sales at 64.2 per cent, followed by computer hardware at 14.8 per cent, software at 11.4 per cent and services at 9.6 per cent.
Computer hardware - especially desktop PCs - is expected to rebound from last year's negative growth of 1.5 per cent to expand by 5.5 per cent this year.
Desktop PC sales are forecast to hit 1.35 million units, against 1.28 million in 2009 and 1.3 million the year before.
"This year, international brands will outperform locally branded PCs in a ratio of 70:30, as their average price has been reduced to about Bt16,000," Nectec said in the report.
The notebook market is predicted to grow 12.9 per cent to around 1.58 million units, from 1.4 million last year. However, the netbook market this year is expected to contract by 15.4 per cent to about 110,000 units, against last year's 130,000 sales.
"Last year, netbook sales grew by 62.5 per cent to 130,000 units, but this year the market is expected to be only 110,000 units. This is because users realise netbooks have poorer features than notebooks and are suitable mainly for Internet purposes, while notebook prices are also coming down to just a little bit higher than those of netbooks," said the report.
Sales of other ICT devices are forecast to increase this year. Sales of LCD monitors are expected to be 480,000 units, up from 420,000 last year, while all-in-one laser printer sales will grow by 17.2 per cent and all-in-one inkjet printers by 8.6 per cent.
Sales of external hard-disk drives are expected to be strong, growing by 47 per cent to about Bt2.5 billion. Last year's sales were Bt1.7 billion, 16.4 per cent higher than in 2008.
The report lists the key factors driving the ICT market this year as the government's stimulus packages; the change in technology platforms such as Windows 7, Intel Core i and 3G & WiMax technology; the economic rebound, both globally and locally; growth in the Internet penetration rate; and greater adoption of electronic documents.
The report forecast that the technology trends for this year include green technology, virtualisation, cloud computing, high-speed broadband (3G and WiMax), 3D display, solid-state drives and LED (light-emitting diode) technology.
