IDC charts trends in Oceania

IDC Research has recently undertaken and released a pair of reports that are worth the while of those in the biz in Oceania. The report intriguingly (if long-windedly) titled “New Zealand Enterprise Applications 2006-2010 Forecast and Analysis: Change, the Only Constant“ details the analyst firm’s five-year forecast for the New Zealand enterprise applications market, including enterprise resource management, supply chain management, and CRM.

Bottom line first, then. As IDC sees it, 2005 revenue for the New Zealand enterprise applications market will be in the area of NZ $99 million (approximately US $63.5 million). Fueled by growth due to “Increased complexity of business processes …, application consolidation, emerging technologies, new regulatory compliance standards, and increased popularity in the small and mid market segment,” IDC’s prediction for 2010 puts the market at NZ $138.3 million (approximately US $88.75 million), a 6.9 percent compound annual growth rate.

The immediate conclusion drawn: IDC recommends that “vendors focus on selected partners that bring expertise in a vertical and/or geographical domain. Competition amongst partners could harm commitment and credibility in the market.” The full report is available at www.idcresearch.com for US $4,500 (cheap). Meanwhile, an IDC report on Australian broadband, “Australia Home Networking 2006-2010 Forecast and Analysis: Armchair Surfers Carving the Multimedia Wave,” states that home networking adoption is “trailing approximately five years behind residential broadband household adoption rates.”

IDC figures that home network penetration of Australian households is expected will increase from six percent in 2005 to 33 percent in 2010. Residential broadband penetration reached 31 percent in 2005, according to IDC numbers. IDC believes home networking will remain data-centric in the short-term, due to broadband sharing’s status as a major driver in home networking adoption, with broadband service providers boosting shipments of wireless routers to their subscriber base. IDC analysts go on to predict that the second generation of home networking will be multimedia-oriented. In the study abstract, authors exhume IDC’s Australia Digital Home Consumer Usage Survey 2006 to remind that the main obstacle barring multimedia networking is the difficulties faced by consumers when setting up their home networks.

IDC also urges vendors in Oz to “think beyond entertainment,” with potential in the home automation and home healthcare markets. “Those who want to play in the entire home environment,” warn IDC analysts, “will need to lay out that roadmap now.” IDC is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC now has some 850 analysts in 50 countries. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, a leading technology media, research, and events company.