The information technology sector appears to be weathering the economic storm better than most.

The sun always shines brightly on the IT industry regardless of economic or political conditions, with widespread consumption of IT products ensuring steady growth, says Ekachai Sirijirapatana, president of IT City.

img 2848 465x309
Pantip Plaza Bangkok

With 40 branches in Bangkok and the provinces, the SET-listed chain is well positioned to gauge the direction of the IT retail trade.

First-quarter results underscore the optimism, as the company’s net profits grew to 41.4 million baht from 22.2 million in the same period last year. It even posted year-on-year growth in April, when the political temperature reached boiling point, partly because the same month in the previous year also saw mass rallies and political violence.

Growth should also be positive this month and next with the school holidays ending. However, Mr Ekachai expects results to be less rosy than the performance in the first quarter.

With the large number of red-clad neighbours not too far from the doorstep of its main branch at Pantip Plaza, IT City has been facing some tough challenges over the last few weeks.

“In recent weeks, as political problems rocked the city, it led to sales at Pantip Plaza dropping – but we are still able to grow because we have branches elsewhere,” said Mr Ekachai.

“Right now, if you go shopping anywhere you’ll notice that malls in suburban areas far from the protesters are attracting more people.”

However, the main driver of the industry is technological innovation. This year a big boost to sales has come with Intel’s introduction of a new family of processors that feature integrated graphics capabilities, complementing the advances made by Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system for PCs.

Read original article

About the author

Camilla Davidsson is a photographer based in Bangkok

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Get notified of our weekly selection of news

You May Also Like

Food insecurity is threatening decades of development progress in Asia and the Pacific

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted supplies of food staples and fertilizer, straining a global food system already weakened by climate change impacts, pandemic-related supply shocks, and unsustainable farming practices.

Thailand’s GDP growth picked up to 4.5% y/y in Q3

Thailand’s economy experienced a positive spillover from the tourism industry in the third quarter, significantly boosting private consumption

Finance Ministry lowers 2022 growth forecast to 3.4%

In 2023, the number of foreign tourists is expected to reach 21.5 million, but prior to the pandemic, there were nearly 40 million foreign tourists in 2019.