Japanese disaster will affect ANZ ICT supply chains

Australian and New Zealand ICT markets will experience some disruptions to availability of Japanese technology brands in the coming months thanks to the Tohoku Pacific Ocean earthquake that hit Japan on 11 March.

Analyst firm IDC said that while there has been much speculation about the ultimate effects of the quake and subsequent disasters on local markets, it’s too early to know the severity of the impact.

But, according to IDC senior analyst Trevor Clarke, “What is clear is that there will be some impact on supply chains and that this will start to be felt in A/NZ over the next few months, although it would be prudent to monitor the situation closely as it is quickly evolving.”

IDC noted that the effects of the Japanese disaster on ICT markets would be markedly different to those of other recent disasters, such as the Queensland floods and Christchurch earthquake.

In those circumstances, end-user spending on ICT fell. In the case of the Japanese disaster, the direct effects are on the vendor and channel side of the equation.

“There are a lot of big-name Japanese brands that are potentially going to suffer as a result of these tragic events, but our initial research shows many have also come through with minor damage to production facilities and should continue to provide product and components to their supply chains,” Clarke said.

“These brands straddle a wide range of ICT markets in A/NZ and we expect businesses and consumers to continue to have plenty of buying options.”

IDC expects to have a better picture of the long-term effects of the Japanese disaster by mid-April 2011.