Brazil has 424 million digital devices in use, reveals FGVcia’s 31st annual survey 

The Center for Applied Information Technology (FGVcia) at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP) has revealed that there are now 424 million digital devices – computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones – in use in Brazil. This figure is taken from FGVcia’s 31st Annual Survey, which presents a detailed portrait of the information technology market. This edition was based on a questionnaire filled in by a sample of 2,622 medium and large companies. 

The survey found that four smartphones are now sold for every TV sold, while TV and computer sales are similar, in Brazil, the United States and worldwide. “These results demonstrate that the digital transformation process is sweeping across companies and society as a whole. The number of computers in use in Brazil also makes clear the importance of technology,” says Professor Fernando Meirelles of FGV EAESP, who coordinated the survey. There are now 190 million computers – desktops, laptops and tablets – in use in the country. “This is equivalent to nine computers for every 10 inhabitants,” he notes. 

In 2019, 12 million computers were sold, down 3% from 2018, the same as in 2016 and 2017, and half the peak number, recorded in 2013. “Increased telecommuting will cause an increase in computer use and sales,” Meirelles predicts. 

The survey also shows that there are 234 million smartphones in use in Brazil – more than the number of inhabitants. Adding in laptops and tablets, there were 342 million portable computers as of June 2020, or 1.6 per inhabitant. 

According to Meirelles, another important finding is that companies are concerned about technology, as their IT spending and investment has grown to 8% of their revenue. “The annual cost of IT per user has reached R$ 52,000. This was calculated by dividing IT spending and investment in 2019 by the number of users at companies, not taking economies of scale into account,” he says. 

Looking at enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, TOTVS, SAP and Oracle together have a 77% market share. TOTVS is the market leader overall and among smaller companies, while SAP is at the top of the ranking when it comes to large organizations. In the end user category, Microsoft continues to dominate, with a market share of 90%. 

Business intelligence and analytics continues to account for a large share of the profits of various players, including SAP, Oracle, TOTVS, Microsoft, Qlik and IBM. They are the leaders in this segment (in this order), with a combined market share of 91%. 

Key findings: 

- Digital transformation will accelerate in 2020. Smartphones dominate usage in areas such as banking and social media. A rupture is already visible in the migration to the use of digital devices, sped up by the pandemic and the resulting lockdown measures. There will be permanent impacts in the areas of distance education and telecommuting. 

- IT use, spending and investment at companies will continue to grow and mature, becoming increasingly important to businesses, despite the present economic crisis. 

- The main IT projects are in the areas of analytics, “new” ERP systems, implementation and integration. IT governance, artificial intelligence and IoT projects are also taking place at large organizations. At the start of 2020, the main focus was telecommuting, but it is expected to shift to digital transformation. 

FGVcia is considered a center of excellence in its field. Its studies present the latest figures and interesting data, reflecting present conditions and trends in this area and providing valuable tools for business people and academics. 

A summary of the results is available here.