(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Philippines Needs 500,000 Subscribers to Make E-Commerce Viable
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January 11, 1999 (MANILA) -- Electronic commerce is still in its infancy
stage in the Philippines.
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There are currently an estimated 200,000 Internet subscribers in the
country, and at least 500,00 subscribers are needed to make e-commerce
viable, industry sources said.
Virgil Pedro, IBM Philippines' country software manager for e-business
solutions, said the increase of the Internet subscriber base to 500,000
will signal the growth of e-commerce in the country. He said the number
of subscribers is expected to hit 900,000 by the year 2002.
IBM Philippines' software group recently launched what it called an "aggressive
campaign" to further market its software business, valued at US$13 billion
worldwide. The campaign will be tied with its e-business strategy, which
focuses on computing in a networked environment, including the Internet.
The software strategy focuses on key products for database management,
Web development, systems management and communications and groupware.
IBM aims to use Universal Database (UDB), Lotus Domino, Tivoli and Lotus
Notes products to help companies integrate their existing applications
with e-business applications, Pedro said.
He expects the demand for systems management and networking solutions
in particular to increase. However, he declined to disclose how much
sales the company hopes to generate from the software business.
IBM is banking on its strength in the financial and technology sectors
in mounting its new campaign. The company said its software "runs virtually
on any hardware platform" and is price-competitive.
Pedro said the growing installed base of IBM customers is becoming more
and more interested in e-business or e-commerce. He noted, though, that
e-commerce is still in the early stages in the Philippines.
To further develop the market, IBM is helping its customers implement
some pilot projects such as the online ordering system of San Miguel
Corp. for draft beer. The project was launched last month as the first
pilot project of the E-Commerce Promotion Council, which is composed
of government and private sector representatives and headed by the Department
of Trade and Industry.
Collaboration between government agencies and businesses is essential
to achieve the full potential of Internet commerce or e-commerce, according
to a recent report by market research company Forrester Research Inc.
The report, entitled "The Commerce Threshold," estimates that global
Internet commerce sales will reach US$3.2 trillion in 2003 if this collaboration occurs and only US$1.8 trillion if businesses and governments
cannot work together.
"More than US$1 trillion in global Internet commerce depends on how effectively
businesses and governments can work together on shared goals," said
Michael Putnam, analyst in Forrester's Business Trade & Technology Strategies
service.
The Internet has experienced the fastest adoption of any technology in
history, bringing millions of people online in a few short years. The
report says Internet commerce will also be accepted quickly, following
the "S-curve" of technology diffusion.
"At the beginning of this S-curve is the commerce threshold -- the window
of opportunity in a country in which the public and private sectors
must act to participate fully in the subsequent hypergrowth of iCommerce.
The commerce threshold is a critical period because firms and governments
that miss this opportunity will have to work much harder, spending more
with lower returns, to get on the iCommerce power curve," Forrester
said.
(Margarita Roa, Asia BizTech Correspondent)
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