Last year may have ended on a low note for many Asia Pacific distributors, but expectations were high for the first half of 2013, according to a report from Forrester Research which shows 63% of distributors surveyed were gearing up for a brighter future.
The Q4 2012 Asia Pacific Tech Distributor Business Confidence Index Tracker Survey from the global research and advisory firm shows distributors were confident business was going to bounce back across all key business indicators.
The Asia Tech Distributors Are Optimistic About Business Growth in 2013 report, drawn from the survey, which uses scores based on the principles of the NPS (net promoter score), reported 72% of organisations predicting growth in total sales, for a net NPS of +67. NPS can be as low as -100, indicating everyone is a detractor, or as high as +100 where everybody is a promoter.
Revenue from new business followed close on total sales' heels with a net score of +60, with bookings (+53) and operating margin (+21) also expected to grow.
It wasn't entirely roses, however, with Forrester reporting that 26% of distributors who reproted lower than expected operating margins in the last half of 2012 saying there would be further decline in H1 2012.
Overall, 63% of the 43 senior executives from 'top' technology distributors across the region were expecting their business to improve in the six months, with just 9% expecting business to deteriorate.
Forty-two percent expected the economic climate to be positive six months from the time of the survey, conducted between November and December 2012. Fourteen percent thought the economic environment would be 'negative'.
“Almost half of the respondents who reported lower than expected business performance in H2 2012 are now confident in their ability to improve in the coming months,” Forrester says.
That figure contrasts sharply with distributor's feelings about H2 2012, when 42% had reported lower than expected business performance for the period, with only 12% reporting higher than expected.
On Friday, we'll take a look at what the report highlights as key areas of interest for distributors going forward.
To read Part 1, please click here