SAP sees stronger Asia-Pacific bookings

Asian economy has bottomed out, companies including small and medium-size businesses have started investing in technology and software - President SAP Asia-Pacific & Japan

 

Business software maker SAP AG expects its Asia-Pacific order volume to improve as Asian economies are bottoming out from a severe downturn, its regional head said.  Geraldine McBride, President of SAP Asia-Pacific and Japan, said in an interview that as the Asian economy has bottomed out, companies, including small and medium-size businesses, have started to invest in technology and software.

 

"If you look at our pipelines, looking forward towards the end of this year, pipelines are actually getting stronger," she said. "We expect the second half of the year to be better for us than the first half has been."  However, McBride said the average value of the new orders is generally lower compared to the previous ones as they came more from small to medium-size businesses rather than big enterprises.

 

SAP's Asia-Pacific operation posted a 12 percent drop in its first-quarter revenue on constant currency basis, far worse compared to the 6 percent fall in the global revenue of the firm, which has a market value of about $49 billion. The Asia-Pacific operation generated a first-quarter revenue of € 297 million ($399.3 million), out of € 2.36 billion worth of global revenue. She said about three-quarters of the Asia-Pacific revenue came from China, Japan and India, and among the sectors that she sees as "bright spots" during this tough economic conditions are telecommunications, retail, utilities and public services.

 

Source: The Hindu Business Line