| US software company Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR) expects revenues from Latin America to represent 8% of global sales this year, up from 4.5-5% in prior years, Compuware Latin America VP Yoshida Takahiko told BNamericas.
Compuware Latin America’s plans include investments in marketing activities, particularly lead generation programs, as well as establishing new partnerships to consolidate its presence in the region. In the South of Latin America sub-region, the company has been working for several years with Chilean IT firm Mainsoft, with which it also partners in Argentina and Peru. Takahiko said there are several potential clients in Peru, particularly among large banks, as well as entities in the public sector. In Argentina the situation is unpredictable, he said. "Still, we are betting on the Argentine mainframe market, because it’s the largest in Latin America. So we will position our mainframe solution, and wait until the political and economic environment stabilizes in order to determine the level of investments we will make," the executive said. "Mainsoft will continue to be our sole partner in Chile, but we expect to have at least three in Argentina and Peru this year. We will also add partners in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. In the North of Latin America region we are focused on investing in Venezuela and Colombia," he added. Takahiko said that Compuware is looking for smaller-sized partners that can really focus on selling the firm’s solutions, such as the case of Mainsoft, which sees some 70% of its revenues from sales of Compuware solutions. "We need a partner that makes at least 20% of its revenues with us, because that also makes them invest in us. The ideal size is a company that bills some US$10mn a year with a staff focused on Compuware. I don’t need a partner that generates 1-2% of its revenues with us, because they won’t focus on the product, they will only be an opportunistic partner," he said. In Latin America as a whole, Compuware has strong presence in the telecommunications, financial and government sectors, while in Chile it has also penetrated the retail segment. |
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Stefanini to focus on financial clients in Latin America with document services – Regional
| Brazilian IT firm Stefanini will target the Latin American financial sector with its document services, the company’s VP of services, Silvio Passos, told BNamericas.
The executive was expanding on local press reports that Stefanini had formed a joint venture with local data processing firm eForm. Passos said Stefanini entered into the agreement with eForm to strengthen its business process outsourcing (BPO) offer. "The vast majority of the BPO services that we already offer have some document component," he said. Stefanini is interested in targeting the financial sector because of its need to manage contracts and automate services, the executive said, adding that Stefanini’s strongest financial sector presence is in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru. Passos was unable to disclose the value of the deal, but he did say that Stefanini is still considering future acquisitions. Based in the Brazilian city of Recife, eForm has a presence in much of Latin America, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico, as well as the US, Canada and Europe. Last month, Brazilian press quoted Stefanini’s president, Marco Stefanini, as saying that the IT firm has US$50mn available for potential acquisitions, with the goal of accelerating its international expansion plan.
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Dominio: Laptop sales jump 58.5%, led by netbooks – Peru
| Sales of laptops in Peru surged 58.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2009, reaching 125,600 units, mostly driven by the residential segment and sales of netbooks, according to a new study by local consultancy firm Dominio Consultores.
During the first three months of the year, there were 77,400 netbooks sold in Peru, according to Dominio, with the One Laptop per Child models representing 89.3% of the total netbook market. Acer followed with a 3.4% share and LG came next with 2.6%. Without considering sales of netbooks, the Peruvian laptop market grew 45.4% in 1Q09, and HP led the segment with a 42% share, followed by Lenovo (12%) and Acer (9%). Sales of desktops in Q1 decreased 19.7% compared to the year-ago period, for a total of 25,600 units. Desktop sales in the quarter represented 17% of the total Peruvian PC market, compared to 29% in 1Q08. "We expect the desktop market to continue to decrease in terms of units sold, [falling] approximately 10% to 110,000 units this year. However, the laptop segment will continue showing positive growth, rising 55% to 450,000 units," Dominio analyst Victor Velarde told BNamericas. According to Dominio Consultores, in the desktop segment HP again lead with 42% of the market, followed by Lenovo (33%) and Dell (20%). Dominio also analyzed the Intel-based server market, which decreased 20% year-over-year to a total of 1,850 units. The consultancy believes this segment was impacted mainly by the global economic crisis, which led to delays and reductions of IT investments in the corporate sector. "Our recommendation to server vendors is to focus efforts towards the mid-market. They might not acquire high-value servers, but they may buy a larger number of mid and small servers, and that can compensate for the larger companies’ delays in server investments due to the crisis," Velarde added. |
Paperless expanding to Peru, aims for 70% growth
| Chilean electronic documents solutions provider Paperless plans to expand to Peru this year and expects sales to grow 70% from the US$2mn posted in 2008, the company’s general manager Pedro Cabezón told BNamericas.
The Peruvian office will add to the branch in São Paulo, Brazil, where Paperless has been operating for just over two years. According to Cabezón, the company helped Brazil’s finance ministry define local regulations regarding electronic documents and signatures, and is now doing the same with the Peruvian tax office, Sunat. "One of the advantages of Chile being a pioneer in this issue is that many countries in the [Latin American] region see Chile as an example, and they contact us since we’re the company that leads the [e-document] sector," Cabezón said. According to Cabezón, in a couple of years, sales outside of Chile are expected to surpass domestic revenues. Paperless’ client base includes Chilean retailers such as D&S, Cencosud and Ripley, in addition to highway concessionaires and utilities. With some 150 customers in total, mostly large enterprises, the company is now also targeting smaller firms with specific versions of its solution. "There are several sectors that will join the e-signature and e-documents systems, such as the health and government sectors. The use of physical documents will no longer be required by law," Cabezón added. Paperless already processes about 40mn documents a month. Although Cabezón does not believe sales to the SME segment will represent the majority of Paperless’ revenues, he said they will drive the growth of the customer base.
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Roundup: NComputing, Motorola, Sistemas Bejerman, SAP – Argentina, Regional
| US desktop virtualization solutions provider NComputing and Chinese PC company Haier plan to offer computers costing US$150 to educational entities and government agencies in 18 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, NComputing said in a statement.
The companies have ambitious plans to sell more than 1.5mn workstations in these regions. *** Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has selected the 25 towns and cities in Latin America with the highest level of IT adoption in public administration, considering broadband infrastructure, internet access in public entities, free wireless connection and e-government applications, Motorola said in a statement. One hundred and fifty Latin American municipalities from 15 countries took part in the study. The "most digital" municipalities are in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay. *** Argentine software provider Sistemas Bejerman has renewed an alliance with local bank Santander Río, through which the banks’ clients in the corporate, SME and agribusiness segments can acquire Bejerman’s products with a 25% discount when paying with Visa credit cards, Systemas Bejerman said in a statement. The offer ends on December 31, 2009. *** The Latin American division of SAP (NYSE: SAP) will hold its Sustainability Tour in Latin America during June and July, visiting Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Venezuela, SAP said in a statement. The idea behind the conferences is to gather current and potential clients, as well business partners, and show them SAP’s offering in terms of sustainability, sharing its set of best practices.
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Intel: Netbooks set to drive laptop market growth – Peru
| Sales of netbooks are helping Peru’s laptop market continue growth of nearly 70% per year, local newspaper Gestion quoted Intel’s (Nasdaq: INTC) business development manager Carlos Hurtado as saying.
Netbooks were launched in Peru late last year and the strength of this segment has helped Peru have one of the most constant laptop market growth rates in Latin America, he added. Today, netbooks represent a third of the total Peruvian laptop market. In Latin America as a whole, netbook sales are expected to reach 1.78mn units this year, according to IDC estimates. The consultancy firm recently increased the estimate, from its initial forecast of 1.63mn units; netbook sales in the region totaled 850,000 in 2008.
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IDC ups netbook projections, expects 1.8mn units in 2009 – Regional
| Netbook shipments in Latin America are now expected to reach 1.78mn this year, the director of consumer and commercial devices at international tech consultancy IDC, Jay Gumbiner, told BNamericas.
IDC previously predicted that regional netbook shipments would reach 1.63mn, up from 850,000 in 2008, the analyst said. Gumbiner attributed the increase to better-than-expected results during the first quarter, as well as new product launches and product bundling by carriers. The analyst said Mexico currently leads regional netbook sales, accounting for 42%. Meanwhile, Brazil accounts for 13% of sales. "Vendors usually use Mexico as a new country to launch their new products," Gumbiner said. "Mexico is the first country to start adopting these [solutions]." Gumbiner said that IDC expects netbook sales to increase in Mexico even as the country’s economy slows. He noted that some consumers that had previously considered buying a larger laptop might now opt for a cheaper netbook due to the poor economic conditions. Still, Gumbiner said Mexico’s regional market share is expected to fall in upcoming quarters as sales increase more rapidly in other countries. "Over time, we expect growth in Brazil. We expect growth in Chile because that country has a strong notebook and mobility culture," he said. "Venezuelan consumers are usually early adopters, and I would expect sales there to increase." Gumbiner added that government-backed One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiatives will continue to drive netbook sales in Peru and Uruguay.
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“Disc eyes Peru with new e-signature solution – Chile
| Chilean IT systems integrator Grupo Disc expects to boost sales outside of the country, and is particularly eyeing Peru with its new electronic signature solution called Elsig, Grupo Disc international business director Claudio Delgado told BNamericas.
According to the executive, Disc expects some 10 companies to be using Elsig this year, handling up to 2mn electronic documents. "We’re eyeing countries, Peru is one of them, that are including these types of technologies in their legislation. That’s a big opportunity for us to sell the solution across the region," according to Delgado. For more than three years, Disc has developed identification software using encrypting and digital signature technologies, and the company decided to launch this new solution given market needs and the increasing number of regulations related to electronic documents. One of the innovative features of Elsig is its integration through web services, which allows the digital signature of documents in XML and PDF formats. Grupo Disc sees banks, insurers and the public sector, particularly municipalities, as the areas that will most drive demand for Elsig, considering their need to generate high volumes of electronic documents.
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Mobile Phone Subscribers Pass 4 Billion Mark
| GSM focused trade body, 3G Americas says that a historic milestone was achieved for the wireless industry in December 2008 with 4 billion connections to mobile devices worldwide. This estimate by Informa Telecoms & Media represents 60% of the entire global population today. In some countries, millions of people are now experiencing connectivity to the world for the first time through wireless and changing their economic, social and political fortunes forever. Click here to see full article "The Latin America and Caribbean region continues to show steady consumer growth with 16% year-on-year growth as subscription numbers are expected to reach in excess of 440 million, equating to 76% penetration," noted Marisol Gomez, Americas regional analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. "The market in the region to have shown the greatest number of net additions in the year was unsurprisingly Brazil [19 million], but in terms of annual growth, we note that Peru has been a particularly fast growing market with 4.6 million net additions, representing annual subscription growth of 33%." As many emerging markets are achieving a new level of communication, wireless technology continues its rapid advancement into next generation mobile networks. Currently, more than 100 operators worldwide, including most industry leaders, have announced expectations to migrate networks to LTE from 2010 and beyond. LTE is the next evolution of mobile broadband technology that utilizes OFDM-based technology and a flat-IP core network allowing an enhanced Internet experience on mobile devices. "Third generation technologies continue to evolve and the GSM operator today has a clear path towards LTE," stated Chris Pearson, President of 3G Americas. "In addition to the evolution to LTE by GSM operators, LTE is proving to be the technology choice for CDMA operators as well." The number of wireless users on 3G services continues to rise. Informa estimates that there are nearly 415 million 3G subscriptions to date, with 77% share of the 3G market on UMTS/HSPA networks or 320 million connections, and the remaining 95 million on CDMA EV-DO. The number of commercial UMTS/HSPA networks has risen to 258 in more than 100 countries, including 41 networks in 20 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region. "HSPA and HSPA+ will compete with any and all mobile wireless technologies available today and in the near future," concluded Pearson. "In fact, recent commercial launches of HSPA+, such as that of Telstra in Australia, are reporting peak theoretical downlink speeds of 21.6 Mbps. 3G is more than capable of delivering the bandwidth customers need today, and the emerging LTE technology provides us with a clear evolution path for the future." |
Braskem to invest US$2.5bn in Peru – Brazil, Peru
| Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem (NYSE: BAK) is planning to invest US$2.5bn in a polyethylene (PE) unit in Peru, according to the company’s director of international projects Cleantho de Paiva Leite.
Braskem does not exclude the possibility of mergers and acquisitions outside South America. "To grow as our shareholders wish and as we feel we’re capable, we have to look outside of Brazil," Leite was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. According to the report, Braskem intends to supply growing demand in Mexico, Venezuela and the Pacific coast, which currently import PE and polystyrene (PS) from the US. The project in Peru, to be carried out in partnership with Brazilian federal energy company Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) and Peruvian state oil company Petroperú, depends on natural gas supply from reserves in the southern Amazon jungle, the report read. The plant will need 100Mf3 (2.83Mm3)/day of ethane to produce up to 1.2Mt/y of PE, Petroperú said. The Braskem executive added that project financing is the main issue at the moment. Recently, Braskem said it was reviewing planned investments of US$3bn in the joint ventures Propilsur and Polimérica with Venezuela’s state petrochemical firm Pequiven, and that it was also reevaluating their financing model.
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