Commart Thailand 2010 confident

[Admin]

Commart Thailand 2010 confident 
Bangkok Post: 17 Mar 2010
IT businesses confident despite political situation

The organisers of Commart have increased their security system during the volatile political situation and said visitor figures may decline 20 percent but the value of transactions will reach 3 billion baht due to declining product prices and demand in the market.

Pathom Indarodom, General Manager, A.R. Information & Publications, which organises Commart Thailand 2010 which will be held on March 18-21, said the event is still on schedule and no computer vendors have cancelled booths, but the company has asked Lumpini police station to help strengthen security.

The event will use X-ray machines and check all vehicles in order to reduce risks but will try to minimise inconvenience. However if there is violence during or before the event, the company may reconsider the situation.

"In this situation, we have to admit that the event's visitor numbers may be reduced by 20 percent, as with the closure of the airport, but in terms of the value of purchases during the event we expect to reach 3 billion baht. This is a conservative forecast compared with demand and price war from the vendors," Pathom said.

Pathom is also confident that IT spending this year will reach 80,000 million baht compared with 72,000 million baht last year.

Accharas Ouysinprasert, Country Manager for Intel Microelectronics (Thailand), said the company is confident that Thailand's IT market spending on hardware, which covers desktops, portable units and servers, will see a 25 percent unit growth compared with last year.

The growth may come from new CPU technology and falling price points.

"Last year, Thailand had two big challenges with the global recession and political instability in April but we managed. For this year, there is a lot of new technology and falling price points as well as demand for corporate refresh technology due to a freeze in spending over the last few years. Even in such a situation, the hardware market in 2009 still grew 15.6 percent," Accharas said.

"Moreover, 60 percent of Thailand's IT spending last year was dominated by the consumer market and is expected to reach 65-70 percent this year. This will help increase the overall market and this group may lose confidence in the short term but it will recover earlier compared with SME and corporate users," he added.

Patama Chantaruck, Managing Director, Microsoft (Thailand) said: "We will revise our business plan and adjust targets if and when necessary. However, a key priority is to ensure that we maintain a positive working environment, with staff allowed to work from home if they feel that their personal safety is in any way jeopardised."

Dr Tatchapol Poshyanonoda, managing director, Cisco Thailand, said the company is closely monitoring the situation. Corporate warnings about travelling to Bangkok have been issued across the organisation.

Government agencies have CCTV (IP Surveillance) linked to the Command Centre and Call Centre. Live video from CCTVs can be sent remotely to the centre to be distributed to mobile users via MMS and 3G.

In addition, the telepresence at the PM's safe house, connected to the Command Centre, enables quicker decision-making.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/technews/34573/it-businesses-confident-despite-political-situation