Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/15/2013 -- South Africa's economy stuttered in the latter part of 2012 owing to widespread industrial actions in sectors and the build-up to the ruling party's leadership elections. We are sanguine about real private consumption and government spending in 2013, forecasting growth rates of 3% and 3.8% respectively. However, the investment outlook is less positive, with real growth of just 2% in 2013. We therefore expect government-related projects to continue to drive growth in the IT market and the contribution of consumer expenditure to the overall IT to rise in 2013. That said, we believe key industry verticals with a high dependency on technology, notably financial services and retail, will step up their IT investments as concerns over the global economy recedes. We forecast South African IT spending to increase to about ZAR138.92bn in 2017, from ZAR88.89bn in 2012.

Headline Expenditure Projections

Computer hardware sales: ZAR38.89bn in 2012 to ZAR43.88bn in 2013, +12.8% in local currency terms. We retain the view that migration to Microsoft Windows 8 will provide a boost in 2013.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents

Software Sales: ZAR16.89bn in 2012 to ZAR18.60bn in 2013, +10.1% in local currency terms. Strong private consumption will drive growth, although this will be buffeted by the prevalence of piracy.

IT Services Sales: ZAR33.11bn in 2012 to ZAR34.39bn in 2013, +3.9% in local currency terms. We expect cloud computing to drive the uptake of outsourcing and managed services.

Risk/Reward Ratings: South Africa scores 46.8 out of 100, compared to the regional average of 51.5, in our Q213 MEA RRR table. It is in ninth position on out table, ahead of only Lebanon and Egypt.

Key Trends And Developments

- In February 2013, systems integrator Business Connexcion finalised its 100% acquisition of ICT management firm Integr8 IT for around ZAR126mn. Integr8 IT is one of the largest privately owned ICT managed services firms in Africa, providing annuity based infrastructure management and managed services to the mid-market corporate sector throughout the region.
- The department of Home Affairs plans to issue new smart ID cards with enhanced security features in 2013. At the time of writing, key details of the project were still being worked out, although the project is expected to be implemented over the four years to 2017.
- Major infrastructure and transport projects should continue to boost IT services spending growth during the forecast period. Spending still depends heavily on government programmes and the government will remain the largest spending IT services vertical, followed by financial services and telecoms. Cloud computing is becoming viable in South Africa due to improved and lower-cost bandwidth availability.

About Fast Market Research
Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. Representing the world's top research publishers and analysts, we provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available. Our unbiased, expert staff will help you find the right research to fit your requirements and your budget. For more information about these or related research reports, please visit our website at http://www.fastmr.com or call us at 1.800.844.8156.

Browse all Computer Technology research reports at Fast Market Research

You may also be interested in these related reports:

- South Korea Information Technology Report Q1 2013
- Hungary Information Technology Report Q2 2013
- Czech Republic Information Technology Report Q2 2013
- Turkey Information Technology Report Q2 2013
- Hospital Information Systems Market Outlook in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) to 2017
- Clinical IT Systems Market Outlook in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) to 2018
- South Africa Healthcare IT Market Outlook to 2018 - Clinical IT Systems and Medical Imaging Information Systems
- Healthcare IT Market Outlook in South Africa to 2017 - Hospital Information Systems and Medical Imaging Information Systems
- Middle East and Africa and South and Central America Healthcare IT Market Outlook to 2018 - Clinical IT Systems and Medical Imaging Information Systems
- South Africa Agribusiness Report Q2 2013