'Wait and see' attitude halts demand
Like all sectors of business in Thailand, the information and communication technology industry has been hard hit by the country's political turmoil.
Industry leaders and company executives have explained that the most serious effect has been one of "putting everything on hold", with businesses and individuals alike waiting for the uncertainty to clear before spending on computers and information technology.
Association of Thai Software Industry (ATSI) president Somkiat Ungaree said the industry had suffered obvious damage from the incidents in the capital. Serious risks had been posed for the country and for business in the country because customers had gone into "waiting mode" before buying anything.
He said that earlier, the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (OSMEP) and ATSI had created a software-procurement campaign for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Called Software Thai for SMEs, it promoted the purchase and use of IT by SMEs to enhance their competitiveness. However, SMEs were among the first to delay such investments because of the political mess; their purchases and the campaign are in "waiting mode".
Association of Thai ICT Industry (ATCI) president Boonrak Sarakanond said the political situation had both direct and indirect effects on the ICT market.
"Our international suppliers are not confident about coming to Thailand and have postponed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on two occasions," he said. "It will reduce confidence to invest [in Thailand] by both investors and businesses. I think that the effects [of this unrest] are not only felt by the tourism industry, but also by other businesses," Boonrak said.
He said the ATCI planned to develop activities to encourage and boost the ICT industry as a whole, starting in September. The activities will focus on existing customers, so that ICT businesses can survive.
OfficeMate's managing director Worawoot Ounjai said the political turmoil had a positive affect for his company. It had been able to increase its revenue in March by about 15 per cent, compared with March last year.
"I think that the political turmoil creates an opportunity for companies that run their business on an online-transaction or e-business basis, because businesses and individuals are spending much more time online and they are purchasing products and goods over the Internet," Worawut said.
Microsoft Thailand's managing director Patama Chantaruck said her company's business had been affected by the political turmoil. Over a period of about five weeks, consumers had been delaying spending to purchase information technology products, and Microsoft Thailand's revenue from the consumer market had fallen by 5 to 10 per cent, she said.
"Because of the political turmoil, we will have to renegotiate with headquarters to adjust our revenue growth for the 2010 fiscal year, because we are still showing expectations of double-digit revenue growth," she said, adding that the company would begin the 2011 fiscal year next month.
"While most enterprises are continuing their IT investment, we are also planning to work with partners to develop a campaign to boost the software market," Patama said.
HTC (Thailand) country manager Nattawat Woranopkul said his company would take a couple of weeks to evaluate losses incurred and other affects from the political turmoil. It would then report to head office before beginning to generate activities and campaign for increased revenue from the mobile market.
HTC (Thailand) believes the political turmoil will affect the mobile-phone market and is expecting the market to shrink by about 20 per cent this year.
"We have witnessed a huge affect from the red-shirt demonstration, especially in Bangkok's business areas, where mobile shops have been unable to run their business. However, the company has still been receiving revenue from businesses and shopping centres in outlying areas, where growth has continued," Nattawat said.