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activities such as consumer electronics sales and direct marketing
expenditures that have not traditionally been included in measures of
IT & Telecommunications (IT&T) industries. They also contain estimates
for significant non-traded or in house activities.
Whether traded or non-traded, the IT industries are growing strongly at
a rate in excess of ten per cent per annum.
It is estimated that approximately 500 000 Australians are employed by,
or spend a substantial part of their time engaged in the commercial
activities of the information industries.
Official statistics indicate that use of IT in Australia by the private sector
is high: companies employing 100 or more people are almost fully
computerised; 50 per cent of smaller companies (employing from one to
19 people) are computerised and this rate is growing. 13
3.2 Use of e-commerce by the IT industries
The IT industries have been rapid adopters of e-commerce technologies
and business models. The following box reports on sales figures that
indicate the scale of the transition to e-commerce.
It is notable that the biggest advances in this sector have been in
business-to-business e-commerce. More use is being made of e-commerce
to facilitate the purchase of goods and services by consumers, but it is
still very much behind the magnitude of sales made between businesses.
Box 3.1
Some indicative statistics about the significance of e-commerce for IT
industries
Intel
Internet sales now account for 40 per cent of Intel’s total sales, generating
US$1 billion in revenue per month. The revenue generated online is higher than had
been expected in the fourth quarter of 1998, when the company predicted that it
would sell US$830 million a month in 1999.
Based on the current figures, the company expects online sales to account for
42 per cent of the total revenue by the end of the year. Overall, Intel reported first
quarter revenue of US$7.1 billion.
Nua Internet Surveys: 26 April 1999
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/cn041399.htm
25 Per cent of Dell revenue generated online
Dell Computers currently generates an average of US$14 million per day in Internet
sales, up from an average of US$5 million per day in June of 1998. At present,
online sales account for 25 per cent of Dell’s total revenue. The company expects
this percentage to increase to 50 per cent by end of 2000.
In order to maximise its online business, Dell is currently engaged in a project to
develop web pages for its top 30 suppliers. The idea is that the computer company’s
top customers will be able to access Dell’s manufacturing lines directly to determine
when they need to place their next order. Dell currently runs a six-day inventory,
dramatically reduced from its previous inventory of 30 days due to the introduction
of new technology.
In the US, analysts estimate the computer and electronics industry will generate
US$50.4 billion in domestic online sales this year.
Nua Internet Surveys: 19 April 1999
13 NSW Department of State and Regional Development, Information Technology and
Telecommunications, Industry Overview, 1999.
102