Deloitte flags TMT trends to track in 2012

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 24 January 2012 20:04

IT Industry - Market

Deloitte has issued its 2012 technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) predictions and with the company claiming 80 percent accuracy for the 2011 version, we should probably take note of that it is saying.

The predictions are prepared by over 20 Deloitte firms around the world and are global in nature.

Deloitte boasts: "We review the accuracy of all predictions every year: the rate has improved from 68 percent in 2009, through 72 percent in 2010, and was 82 percent in 2011."

Given the scale and speed of change in the industry, achieving such accuracy is impressive. As Deloitte notes in its introduction to the latest predictions "Just in the last three years, the number five phone manufacturer became number one, a smartphone operating system with under two percent market share went to 45 percent in the US, and the tablet market went from selling a million units per year'¦.to selling that many every four days!"

As in 2011, this year's predictions report is published as a single report rather than three separate ones. Deloitte says its view is that developments in each sub-sector are now so inter-linked and interdependent that TMT executives need to be cognisant of key trends across all sectors.

On Australia-specific aspects of the predictions, Deloitte Australia's TMT leader, Damien Tampling, said: "The average Australian household is predicted to spend around two percent of their weekly disposable income, just under $24 per week, on home computer equipment, including pre-packaged software and mobile phone related expenses; a similar proportion to the US spend."

The predicted spend by Australian households on computers and software in FY12 is estimated to be $5.44bn, 80 percent of the estimated $6.8bn total.

The other key prediction from Deloitte's global TMT report that the company identified as being particularly relevant to Australia was the rise of the multi-tablet owner.

Deloitte predicts that roughly five million tablets will be sold globally in 2012 to people who already own one - generating up to $2 billion in revenue. "More tablets per household and more again in the workplace, may well further expedite consumer's moves away from traditional print media, in particular print news. If possible, this trend could only provide further impetus to testing new product and pricing models in this space," said Tampling.

The full report and other supporting material is available here.