Who is winning the digital wars in Asia-Pacific?

WAVES of new technologies are rapidly emerging, disrupting every conventional (and conceivable) business notion. By 2025, today's fast-changing technologies - including the mobile Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud technology, 3-D printing, and advanced robotics - are expected to lead to 30 per cent GDP growth in South-east Asia alone, 20-30 per cent in India, and up to 22 per cent in China. All companies, regardless of country or industry, are looking to leverage digital technology to rewrite their industry and their own future. Digital is quickly becoming the path to thrive (and also survive) in our new age, as evident from our research report, Asia Rising: Digital Driving.

Digital-first is the new norm in Asia Pacific. While digitally enabled consumers throughout the world are shaking up business models, value chains and ecosystems, nowhere is this more apparent than in this region. Around 60 per cent of global companies are already undergoing a digital transformation, while the majority of local companies with operations in a particular country (75 per cent), and regional companies with operations in the region (64 per cent) have either just initiated or plan to embark on the transformation journey over the next 12-24 months.

In fact, 60 per cent of local companies believe that digital will fundamentally change their business model (substituting products and services, reconfiguring delivery models, rethinking value propositions, etc) over the next 3-5 years, followed by regional (47 per cent) and global (46 per cent) companies. Leaders in local companies are preparing for the future as they know that making their company digital-first will help them get an edge over the competition.