Digital Landscape: Finding Growth Opportunities in the Developed World

South Korea and the US lead the developed world in digital connectivity

Out of 15 developed markets covered in this briefing, South Korea and the US stand out in terms of their digital infrastructure and penetration of telecom services. While both high-speed mobile and fixed broadband are nearly ubiquitous in South Korea, the US is particularly strong in mobile connectivity which has fuelled fast growth in digital commerce.

Spain and Italy will remain digital laggards even after the developed world’s economic recovery

The developed world has suffered a prolonged period of economic uncertainty. Spain and Italy were the hardest hit by the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis and this led to a sharp fall in digital investments and consumption. Both countries figured at the bottom of the Digital Connectivity Index in 2015 and their ranks will remain the same through to 2020 despite faster economic growth.

Digital commerce and IoT provide lucrative growth opportunities

A number of developed markets, notably South Korea and the US, are investing to build an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem with the help of smartphones and other connected devices. Moreover, digital commerce, both remote and proximity, provide immense growth avenues in developed markets.

The US and Israel are the markets to watch out in terms of growth potential

The US will remain one of the most important digital growth drivers in the developed world because of its size and focus on fixed broadband connectivity. Fibre optics and 4G LTE will fuel growth in Israel. Australia and Germany are the other important markets investors should focus on.

Ageing population and online privacy concerns pose challenges for digital uptake in developed nations

Despite the digital growth opportunities offered by developed markets, there remain certain key challenges. Across markets, the population is ageing and online privacy concerns pose challenges for faster uptake of advanced digital services. Saturation of the devices market is another challenge businesses are grappling with.