Software production
Software production and development are important elements of the governments IT 2000 plan. However, as of 1993, the software industry was fairly small only employing 7,000 people with foreign suppliers being the main competitors.(11)
Singapore sees itself as a desirable place for software development because of its skilled work force. Investors such as Fujitsu Pte Ltd, Lotus Development, and Xerox have set up software development and production operations in Singapore in order to take advantage of the work force and the location. By producing software in Singapore, the country can easily become a distribution hub for the rest of Asia due to its strategic location.
The current domestic software industry is limited to customization, localization, and installation. The top two locally owned software developers are Singapore Computer Systems, and Computer Systems Advisors. These two companies deal with systems integration and developing packages for specific customers instead of applications for mass marketing. A substantial percentage of software professionals in Singapore create products that work with software such as sound cards, which has been locally designed.
Interviews with software executives show that they feel Singapore is not likely to become a big producer of mass produced software because of the fact that the domestic market is so small and the limited resources of the local companies. However, in the area of software development, Singapore has much of the expertise needed to dominate the local Asian market.
Platform usage
Local networking software establishments in Singapore are moving towards open platform computing that allows high level connectivity in the network. Estimates taken from surveys of networking software suggest that 10-15% of computers currently networked are using a UNIX operating system with the remaining 90% using DOS or having a DOS requestor. UNIX operating systems are seen as having good opportunities for growth with a projected growth rate of 20% per year. These types of systems are some of the best platforms for vertical and business applications.(12)
The majority of LANS in Singapore are Etharnet rather than token rings. Estimates say that 80% of networks are Etharnet, 15% are token ring, and 5% something else. These percentages are projected to stay somewhat steady but with the changing technology, the large market share of Ethernet may start to decline.(13)
Software in dollarsSoftware exports is a area that is rapidly growing for Singapore. In 1991, software exports totaled US$59.6 million and in 1992 grew to US$195.9 million, an increase of 228%. The majority of software sales were from applications software with systems and office automation software coming in second and third respectively. Over the past three years the networking software market has also been expanding with an annual growth rate of 30% and an expected continued growth rate of 15-20% for the next five years.(14)
PC usage
PC usage often starts in the schools with the young children of Singapore. A recent program that was started is called the Students' and Teachers' Workbench. This program gives middle school students and staff the opportunity to use a variety of multi-media resources. In the schools, there is one computer for every 15-20 students. The NCB of Singapore is trying to improve this ratio to one computer for every three students by the year 2000.(15)
PC usage is very evident in the government of Singapore. In 1994, there was a ratio of two computers to every three government employees. In the private sector many networks connect the nation in the areas of finance, manufacturing, and medicine and in 1994, nine out of every ten companies with more than ten employees was using Information Technology to some extent.
Personal computers are also becoming popular in personal market with three out of every ten homes in Singapore owning a personal computer. A tenth of the homes with computers use modems to communicate through the Internet. The number of homes with computers is fairly high and is comparable with the United States.
Hardware production and exports
In 1990, there were approximately 6,000 mainframes and minicomputers installed in Singapore, which is an increase of over 77% over 1987. The number of microcomputers being used by businesses has also increased from 56,000 in 1987 to 90,000 in 1990.(16)
Singapore's largest computer export is disk drives. In 1992, exports were US$5,447.2 million which was an increase of 35% over 1991. Singapore's exports of mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers (desktop) decreased between 1991 and 1992 with exports of terminals, disk drives, printers, and components increasing anywhere from 31 to 88%.
Singapore is the world's largest producer of hard disk drives and in 1993 hardware production totaled US$10,933,000. When comparing this to other Asian countries, Japan had hardware production of $50,939,000 in 1993, Hong Kong produced $2,306,000 worth of hardware and U.S. hardware production totaled $49,380,000.
Another growing market for Singapore is the CAD/CAM hardware market. Although the United States is the dominant producer of this hardware, Singapore has the ability to become a player in this sector. In 1995, this market was estimated to be $105 million.(17) Over the past few years, this market has grown rapidly and is expected to continue to grow at a slowed rate of 5% over the next three years.
Major players in IT sectors
Major IT industries in Singapore include data storage, consumer electronics, computer systems, semiconductors, telecommunications, passive components and display devices. Most of the competitors in these markets are not local companies but rather multinational corporations which have been attracted to set up operations in Singapore because of the governments generous incentives. In the area of data storage, products such as rigid disk drives, removable cartridge drives, tape drives, and CD-ROM drives are manufactured. There are fourteen companies that produces these products including Conner Peripherals, Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics, Rexon, Seagate, Suquest Technology and Western Digital.
In the area of computer systems, products such as desktop personal computers, notebook PC's, mobile computers, high-end servers, multimedia products, motherboards and related sub-assemblies are produced. Sixteen companies are involved in this area and they include Apple, Compaq, Creative Technology, GES, Hewlett-Packard, and IPC.
There are twenty-eight companies that are involved in the semiconductor industry and produce such products as memory chips, ASICs, microprocessors, and power ICs. These companies include AT&T, Matsushita National Semiconductor, NEC, TECH and Texas Instruments.
There are eight companies competing in the telecommunications industry including AT&T, Goldtron, Motorola, and PCI. These companies produce such products as pagers, cordless phones, communication antennas, navigation products, two-way radios, and cellular phones.
The final area in which there are a number of competing firms is the passive components and display devices arena. There are forty-five companies that produce products such as cathode ray tubes (CRT's), LCD's, capacitors, resistors, conductors, and quartz components. These companies include Coilcraft, Matsushita, Murata, Nichicon, and Singapore Chemicon.(18)
In addition to these major multinationals there are a number of local competitors which are making their mark in the IT industry. For example, Creative Technology is a local IT company that is the worlds largest producer of sound cards. Many feel this proves that Singapore companies are fully capable of being successful in the world market.
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