December 2013
THE ICT INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
PARTNER
THE ICT INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG This report provides a comprehensive reference for Swiss companies wanting to expand and/or develop in the Hong Kong ICT industry. It contains market insights on the rapidly changing ICT market and 6 selected sub-sectors. Language: English Number of pages: 32 Author: Fiducia Management Consultants Other Reports: Are you interested in Reports for other sectors and countries? Please find more Reports here: www.s-ge.com/reports
Contents
1. GREETINGS FROM SWISS BUSINESS HUB ______5 2. INTRODUCTION _____________________________6 3. MARKET OVERVIEW _________________________7 3.1. The Hong Kong ICT Market ___________________ 7 3.2. ICT Talents ______________________________ 7 3.3. World Leader ____________________________ 8 3.4. Reliable Power Supply ______________________ 8 3.5. Sophisticated Telecom Infrastructure ____________ 9
6. E-GOVERNMENT ___________________________ 16 6.1. Market Size _____________________________ 16 6.2. Trends and Drivers ________________________17 6.2.1. Mobile Technology _______________________17 6.2.2. Social Media and E-engagement ______________17 6.2.3. Cloud, Big Data, and Internet of Things ________ 18 6.3. Policies and Incentives _____________________ 18 6.3.1. GovHK and Other Citizen-centric Online Platforms
18
6.3.2. GovCloud and government public cloud services __ 18
3.6. Solid Research & Development (R&D) Hub ________ 9
7. E-LEARNING _______________________________ 20
3.7. HK as a Gateway into China/Asia _______________ 9
7.1. Market Size _____________________________ 20
3.8. Supporting Bodies ________________________ 10
7.2. Trends & Drivers _________________________ 20
4. FINANCIAL SERVICES _______________________11 4.1. Market Size ______________________________ 11 4.2. Trends & Drivers _________________________ 12 4.2.1. Increasing IT Outsourcing _________________ 12 4.2.2. Low Latency Solution ____________________ 12 4.2.3. Specialised Corporate Solutions _____________ 12 4.2.4. Drivers from Competition and Compliance ______ 12 4.3. Policies & Incentives ______________________ 13 4.3.1. Hong Kong as a Regional Headquarter _________ 13
7.2.1. E-textbook ____________________________ 20 7.2.2. Implementation in Schools _________________ 20 7.2.3. E-learning for Corporates and Professional Training 21 7.2.4. Trends in Content Creation and Distribution _____ 21 7.2.5. Learning Management System (LMS) __________ 21 7.3. Policies & Incentives ______________________ 21 7.3.1. IT in Education Strategies __________________ 21 7.3.2. E-Textbook Market Development Scheme (EMADS) 21
8. DATA CENTRES ____________________________ 22 8.1. Market Size _____________________________ 22
5. SOFTWARE ________________________________14 5.1. Market Size _____________________________ 14 5.2. Trends & Drivers _________________________ 14 5.2.1. Software as a Service (SaaS) ________________ 14 5.2.2. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) ________ 14 5.2.3. Crowdsourcing _________________________ 15 5.3. Policies & Incentives ______________________ 15
8.2. Trends & Drivers _________________________ 22 8.3. Policies & Incentives ______________________ 23 8.3.1. Land Supply ___________________________ 23 8.3.2. Power and Telecommunication Network _______ 24 8.3.3. Data Privacy ___________________________ 25 8.3.4. Data Centre Facilitation Unit _______________ 25
Contents
9. MOBILE APPS______________________________26 9.1. Market Size _____________________________ 26 9.2. Trends & Drivers _________________________ 26 9.2.1. Contracted App Development _______________ 26 9.2.2. Top Categories _________________________ 27 9.2.3. In-app Purchase ________________________ 27 9.2.4. Enterprise Solutions and Private App Stores _____ 27 9.3. Policies & Incentives ______________________ 27 9.3.1. App Prizes ____________________________ 28 9.3.2. Expansion into Emerging Market ____________ 28
10. QUOTES FROM EXPERTS ___________________29 11. APPENDIX ________________________________30 11.1. Reference______________________________ 30 11.2. Glossary ______________________________ 31
1. Greetings from Swiss Business Hub Dear Reader, In just one year of operation in Hong Kong, the Swiss Business Hub (SBH) has already successfully helped two Swiss ICT companies in their market entry. Of course the launching of these products isn’t limited to Hong Kong. After a testing phase in this new environment and certainly some fine-tuning, the next logical step would be into Mainland China. With the experience gained while scouting for the right partners for its ICT clients from Switzerland, the SBH has developed many solid contacts in this sector as well as a certain expertise about opportunities for innovative products in this branch. This brochure just might be the key to your success in entering the Asian market! It provides an overview of possibilities and opens the door to a first contact to probe and evaluate the chances of your company’s success in the region. As we say here “If you can sell in Hong Kong, it sells in China”. Are you looking East, ready to tap the Asian market? Let us know and we shall leverage our professionalism to your best advantage.
Frank Eggmann Head of SWISS BUSINESS HUB Consulate General of Switzerland 62/F Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong 香港灣仔港灣道18號中環廣場62樓 Tel. direct: +852 3509 5014 Mob. phone: +852 917 69240 Fax: +852 3509 5050 frank.eggmann@eda.admin.ch www.s-ge.com
THE ICT INDUSTRY IN HONG KONG
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2. Introduction Hong Kong, as one of the most developed cities in the Asia Pacific region, provides a well-supported environment for ICT enterprises to conduct business. With a robust infrastructure and an abundance of a professional workforce and incentivising policies, Hong Kong acts as a regional hub for foreign companies to expand into surrounding countries. Seeing these opportunities in the Hong Kong ICT market, this report aims to provide a brief view of the current situation and future trends of the ICT industry and to explore the potential opportunities for Swiss enterprises and entrepreneurs. This report covers the following six sectors of the ICT market:
Financial Services; Software; E-government; E-learning; Data Centres, and Mobile Apps.
By looking at the respective market size, trends, drivers, relevant policies and incentives of these sectors, Swiss companies can formulate suitable entry and/or expansion strategies for, not only Hong Kong, but the greater Asia Pacific market.
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