Singapore and Hong Kong – August 27, 2012 – The Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ managed print services (MPS) market will break through the US$1.5 billion barrier within the next 5 years, with growth rates considerably outpacing the overall ICT market.

According to IDC's recent report, Asia/Pacific Managed Print Services 2011–2016 Forecast and Analysis (Doc # AP2579405X, August 2012), MPS will become a feature of enterprises across the APEJ region within the next five years generating revenues of US$1595 million at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% by 2016.

However, unlike with many other technology and ICT services, it won't be the hugely populous markets like China, India or Indonesia that contribute most to this success. These emerging economies will certainly achieve strong growth rates for the forecast period but it is the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region that will continue to be the most valuable MPS market over the next few years in APEJ.

"For print vendors and their channel partners operating in APEJ, it is clear that the traditional print business model must be supplanted with a services and software strategy, one that IDC sees providing better margins and arguably tighter, longer relationships with clients, as is already happening in the developed markets in the region," said Trevor Clarke, Research Manager, IDC Asia/Pacific. "However, the MPS maturity of each country in terms of adoption will remain fragmented in the short term and many opportunities will be in specific markets that host organizations with similar characteristics.

"Developed economies will lead the way with both the demand and supply side exhibiting mature approaches to managing their print and document environments. However, considerable opportunities also exist in the fast growing mega-cities across the region."

IDC research with enterprise organizations across the region shows that end-user indifference in emerging economies to print practices continues to hinder MPS growth, especially as they continue to focus on building out IT infrastructure and allocate spending to hardware. Low labor costs also mean there is little incentive to outsource, as skilled internal staff that can manage the print environment (even to the extent of doing mechanical repairs) are often easy come by.

"In contrast, large enterprises in many developed economies in particular are already shifting focus to workspace strategies with the support of external partners that include MPS in order to boost employee productivity and remain competitive with their peers," Clarke said. "Pioneering organizations are taking a holistic approach that factors MPS into the workspace strategy and ensures this is tied to any mobility, cloud or social business and collaboration agenda. This kind of holistic approach will become more prevalent as enterprise business and IT decision makers start to look beyond siloed elements of their organization to see the bigger ecosystem and how it needs to flourish to create productive and innovative workspaces for employees."

Figure 1

This IDC study, Asia/Pacific Managed Print Services 2011–2016 Forecast and Analysis (Doc # AP2579405X, August 2012), delivers the managed print services (MPS) market size and forecast for the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ region for the period of 2012-2016. It includes the markets in Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), South Korea, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), India, and SEA (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia).

For more information about this report, please contact Sheryl Fuertez at +65-6829-7758 or sfuertez @idc.com. To set up an interview with Trevor Clarke, contact Lay Fang Tan at lftan@idc.com.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 47 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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