The Philippines is expected to become an active player in the global internet of things space that is estimated to grow to about 25.4 billion active devices by 2030, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Friday.
Lopez, addressing semiconductor and electronics stakeholders, said the Philippines was highly capable of developing a thriving IoT market given the potential of its electronics industry.
“Entering these new markets will allow us to leverage on our comparative advantage in the electronics industry value chain and upgrade into more complex and high-growth products,” he said at the virtual general membership meeting of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc.
Active IoT devices reached more than 10 billion globally this year, an opportunity that the Philippines should not pass up, said Lopez.
He said by advancing to the IoT technology, local industries would be able to address the growing demand for smart medical devices, consumer electronics and electronic data processing equipment which saw a huge spike in sales last year.
The demand will come from both industrial and consumer segments such as autonomous and connected vehicles, smart home products, smart health wearables, clean and resilient technology and gaming products, he said.
“Global trends suggest that software is now being increasingly bundled with hardware products and gaining a larger share in the IoT value chain. With this, the strong software development competency of the similarly export-oriented Philippine IT-BPM industry can be a good source of technology, talent, and knowledge through linkages and value co- creation,” said Lopez.
The DTI funded in 2016 the crafting of the Electronics Roadmap, also known as the Product and Technology Holistic Strategy.
The roadmap identified the niche areas where Philippine electronics could figure in competitively in the global market including AI, integrated circuit design, robotics, smart wearables, IoT devices, smart sensors, 3D printers and autonomous vehicles.
Lopez said electronics accounted for 61 percent of the Philippine commodity exports of $17.56 billion in the first quarter of 2021. As of March 2021, cumulative exports in the Philippine electronics industry reached $10.72 billion, up by 8.9 from $9.84 billion in the same period in 2020.
“Let us remember that the Philippines offers a strong value proposition to attract investments in electronics—be it in manufacturing, product design and research and development. This is thanks to our country’s high caliber human capital, unrivalled market access to key markets, government support facilities, and the presence of global brands profitably operating in the country,” he said.