Brazil has more than two digital devices per inhabitant, study reveals

There are now 464 million digital devices (computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones) in use in Brazil (in the corporate and domestic spheres) and as of May of this year, there are more than two digital devices (2.2) per inhabitant, according to the 34th edition of the FGVcia Annual Study on the Brazilian IT Market and IT Use at Companies. The study was released on Thursday, April 27, by the FGV Center for Applied Information Technology (FGVcia) at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration.

The study also reveals that there are 1.2 smartphones per inhabitant, totaling 249 million smartphones in use in Brazil. Adding in laptops and tablets, there are 364 million portable devices, or 1.7 per inhabitant. On average, 3.3 smartphones are now sold in Brazil for every TV set.

Regarding computers, Brazil has 215 million (desktops, laptops and tablets) in use, or one computer per inhabitant. In 2022, sales fell 11%, to 12.4 million units, but growth of around 10% is projected this year.

The coordinator of FGVcia’s study, Professor Fernando Meirelles, says, “It is notable that IT use, spending and investment at companies are continuing to grow in value, maturity and importance at existing businesses, while also enabling new business models. IT spending now accounts for 9% of companies’ revenue. The exact figure depends on several factors and the two main ones are stage or level of computerization and sector in which the company operates.”

IT spending and investment

The graph above shows companies’ total IT spending and investment, including equipment, facilities, supplies and consumables, software, services, communications, and direct and indirect costs of in-house and third-party IT staff, divided by revenue.

It can be seen that the more computerized a company is, the higher its level of IT spending as a proportion of revenue. Over the past 35 years, it has grown 6% per year, rising from 1.3% of revenue in 1988 to 9% in 2022/23. Even so, there is still plenty of room for growth in Brazil, until we reach the levels seen in the most developed countries.

Another indicator, out of more than 50 analyzed in the study, is annual IT cost per user, which reached R$52,000. This number refers to the IT expenses and investments of the companies surveyed last year, divided by the number of users at the company.

It is worth mentioning that this indicator does not tend to exhibit economies of scale, as it grows with the size of the company and varies according to sector. At service providers, the average figure is R$62,000, while it is R$45,000 at manufacturers, R$34,000 at retailers and R$138,000 at banks.

Market share of major manufacturers

The study also looked at the market share of manufacturers in 26 software categories. Microsoft continues to dominate several end-user categories, with a market share of around 90% in some cases. Last year, the manufacturers whose market share grew the most were Google and Qlik. In videoconferencing, Microsoft Teams’ share rose to 42%, passing Zoom, which stayed at 35%.

TOTVS and SAP both have 34% of the market for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, while Oracle has 12% and other companies have 20%. TOTVS is the market leader among small companies, while SAP dominates among the largest companies, with a market share of 50%. New technologies are increasingly driving the integration of physical and digital spheres and demanding the implementation of new processes integrated internally, externally and with each company’s ecosystem. “New ERP” remains at the heart of digital transformation.

Business intelligence and analytics is still a hot sector and among the most profitable for manufacturers. The market leaders are SAP (24%), Oracle, TOTVS, Microsoft and Qlik (16% each), and IBM (9%), together accounting for 96% of the market. Despite all this arsenal of modern tools, Excel still accounts for 90% of analytical intelligence in companies’ financial departments. Another finding is that the cloud now represents an average of 42% of companies’ data processing.

IT spending and investments by banks, private hospitals and agribusinesses

The study looked in detail at three sectors of the economy: banks, private hospitals and agribusiness.

In the last two years (2021 and 2022), IT spending and investment by banks grew 11% per year, reaching R$32 billion, and this figure is projected to grow to nearly R$43 billion in 2024. Smartphones and the internet now account for 90% of banking transactions (and in turn, 90% of this figure is represented by smartphones). At private hospitals, the annual cost of IT per bed is now R$170,000, while in agribusiness, behavior similar to the industry average is observed.

The main IT projects reported in the study continue to be analytics combined with artificial intelligence and the implementation of “new ERP” systems. At large companies, the top IT projects involve security, governance, IoT, cloud, IT talent recruitment and retention, and IT support for ESG projects.

You can see the full report on our website.                                                                                                                 

Methodology

Since 1988, FGVcia has been publishing an annual comprehensive study of the IT market, compiling the results of studies and research on the use of IT at companies. In all, 2,660 medium and large companies contributed to the latest edition of the study.

The results show that the digital transformation process remains under way at companies and in society. FGVcia is considered a leader in this area. Its research presents new and interesting facts and figures, describing the current situation and trends in this environment, thereby making a valuable contribution in both business and academic circles.