According to Springboard's latest research, 'China IT Market Predictions 2009', Hong Kong and Taiwan will, on the other hand, experience a significant slowdown in IT market growth, with Taiwan being the worst affected, due to the downward pressure of the ongoing worldwide financial crisis.
"China's huge domestic market and its almost closed financial system will enable the country to cope with the financial crisis better, thereby protecting the IT market from registering a significant slowdown," said Bryan Wang, country manager of Greater China at Springboard Research.
"Moreover, a strong government investment plan will boost spending in various economic quarters and help the Chinese IT market sustain its place as a shining star in the Asia-Pacific region in 2009," Wang said.
Top 10 trends
According to Springboard, the top 10 trends that will shape the IT market in Greater China in 2009 are:
1. The global financial crisis is unlikely to have a significant impact on the Chinese IT market.
2. Government-driven infrastructure spending will be the top driver for China's IT market.
3. Cost concerns will drive a focus towards IT infrastructure consolidation.
4. China will move towards a greener IT environment.
5. Increased efficiencies help virtualisation emerge as key to data centre transformations.
6. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) will gain momentum in China.
7. Wi-fi will become more popular for corporate usage; better infrastructure will be built for mobile working environments.
8. Unified communications will grow at a slower pace in China.
9. The BPO (business process outsourcing) business will shrink in China.
10. Smaller IT vendors will fight for survival, creating opportunities for larger companies to gain share.
"IT spending in key verticals such as telecom, education, energy and utilities, and the public sector will grow on the back of the government stimulus package, while banking and finance is expected to stand firm," Wang said.
"On the other hand, a slowdown in the small and medium business vertical will have a negative impact on many smaller IT companies in the region, leaving the room open for larger players to move in quickly and gain market share."