This report profiles Singapore’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry, discussing market trends and outlook through 2015 and beyond. The report also highlights leading players in the sector including SingTel Ltd, StarHub Ltd and M1 Ltd.

Singapore’s ICT or infocomm industry saw a period of high growth during the last decade. Amongst the major Southeast Asian countries, Singapore had the highest penetration rate of mobile cellular subscriptions. The government has played a proactive role in promoting the country’s ICT industry as it is seen as a growth driver for the economy.

The sector comprises five major segments: hardware, software, telecommunication services, information technology services, and content services. Hardware was the dominant segment in terms of total revenues as of 2014. Singapore is suited for hardware production because of its high-quality manufacturing systems that is backed by an established ecosystem of component manufacturers, EMS companies and logistics service providers. Singapore is also home to top software and services companies. Many companies, including the top 15 software firms, have regional or Asia Pacific headquarters in the country. IT services consisting of network and data management services form the backbone of the ICT sector. The advent of smart phones has brought a spurt in data related revenues for telecommunication firms. On the other hand, fixed line services are slowly but gradually losing subscriber base in the country.

The future of ICT sector in Singapore will be driven by cloud computing, social media, mobile devices and data usage of subscribers. Data traffic is growing at an exponential rate due to the rising popularity and use of social media and mobile applications. The advent of smartphones and tablets is further fueling the rise in this traffic. The rise in penetration of smartphones and growing data usage will also require investment in infrastructure and network management services.

Key Points:

• Hardware was the dominant segment accounting for around 69% of the ICT industry’s total revenues as of 2014.

• 12% of the ICT industry’s revenue came from the software segment as of 2014. Software revenues are primarily generated from selling or licensing software.

• 9% of the ICT industry’s revenue came from the telecommunication services segment as of 2014. The annual revenue of the telecommunication services segment grew at a CAGR of 6% over the last six years.

• FY14 was a tough year for the ICT sector with average growth of 3.6%, which was far below the historic average. However, in FY15, the sector revived with an average growth of 5.1% in 9MFY15.