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• Statistics on IT 1998
• 2. Imports and Exports

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IT hardware imports and exports are given under three categories: Computer Hardware and Parts, Telecommunications Hardware, and Wireless Communications Hardware.

The hardware import and export figures given here are measured at the border by the Customs Department as goods leave or enter the country. Calendar years are used in these figures.

The Software and Services Export section uses a different methodology - a survey of businesses - so its results are not directly comparable with the hardware figures given below.

2.1 Hardware Imports

The following chart shows a summary of New Zealand IT hardware imports for the last eight calendar years. The 1997 year shows a slight increase in IT hardware imports from 1996 of 2%, following a decrease of 7% from 1995. This increase is due to increases in imports in the Computer Hardware and Parts and Wireless Communications Hardware categories. There was a small fall of imports in the Telecommunications Hardware category.

IT related Hardware Imports by Type

The information in the previous chart is shown again below split by source, showing that the bulk of IT hardware imports are sourced from Asia and North America. In the 1997 year there were declines in IT hardware imports from North America (by 2%) and Australia (by 11%), while imports from all other regions increased modestly. The biggest increase was an 8% increase in the value of imports from Asia, to $853 million in 1997.

IT related Hardware Imports by source

2.2 Hardware Exports

The following chart shows a summary of New Zealand IT hardware exports for the last eight calendar years.

IT related Hardware Exports by Type

The chart shows that 1997 was a year of exceptionally strong growth for exports of IT hardware. IT hardware exports increased to $235 million, a 43% increase over the 1996 total of $164 million. This exceptional growth is mainly due to a 52% increase in the value of Wireless Communications Hardware exports following a 16% increase in value in this category in 1996, and a 43% increase in the value of the Computer Hardware and Parts category, which also follows an increase of 37% in 1996. The value of exports in the Telecommunications Hardware category has shown some volatility over time, but 1997 was marked by a 19% increase in the value of exports in this category. This follows a fall of 35% in value the year before.

While IT hardware exports have continued to grow over the last eight years, and have significantly expanded in the last year, IT hardware imports have also grown over the corresponding period and their value is still 7.5 times as large as the value of New Zealand’s exports.

The growth in the value of IT exports suggests that New Zealand exporters, particularly of Wireless Communications Hardware goods are increasingly successful at finding and supplying overseas niche markets.

The previous chart refers to three categories of IT related hardware exports, the one below shows just the contribution of Computer Hardware and Parts:

Computer Hardware and Parts Exports

Over the past two years there have been exceptional increases in the value of exports of Computer Hardware and Parts, so much so that the value in 1997 was well over double that recorded in 1995. The chart clearly shows these increases which were of the order of 68% in 1996 and 43% in 1997.

Below the total IT hardware exports are shown split by export destination.

IT related Hardware Exports by Destination

The strong growth in 1997 is shown in the chart as being driven by growth in the value of exports to all five areas. Big increases were recorded in the value of exports to Australia (69%) to $62.6 million, the Rest of the World (67%) to $50.8 million and Asia (33%) to $65.1 million. The last of these follows a sharp decline in exports to Asia in 1995 to just $15 million and a bounce back in 1996 to $49 million. The increases in the value of exports to Australia and North America (28% in 1997) were preceded by decreases in 1996 of 23% and 47% respectively.

2.3 Software and Services Exports

The information in this section is taken from a survey of IT businesses conducted by Statistics New Zealand. The survey, now in its fourth year, is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the Information Technology Association of New Zealand (ITANZ), Tradenz, and Statistics New Zealand.

The survey asks all businesses for information as at their previous annual balance date, with a cut-off of 30 September each year. The average balance date in each sample might reasonably be assumed to be March.

The survey has two specific limitations. Firstly, it does not include "embedded software" i.e. software which is part of a hardware product such as a communications system or a washing machine. Secondly, it does not comprehensively cover non-IT businesses or IT businesses with 2 full time equivalent staff or less. Both of these limitations tend to cause the survey to underestimate the actual export figures.

Software and services have not been separated due to the difficulty of accounting for software maintenance revenue.

Software and Services Exports

The survey found software and computer services exports of $132.6 million in the 1997 financial year, a 1.6% decrease from the revised 1996 figure of $134.7 million (the 1996 figure published last year was $121.7 million).

The survey also finds the value of hardware exports was $192.5 million for the 1997 financial year, up from $172.5 million in 1996 and $176.6 million in 1995. The following chart maps these figures.

Note, however, they are not directly comparable to the IT hardware export figures captured at the border and given earlier in this paper because of differences in the accounting year; the exclusion of export costs such as freight and insurance; and the aforementioned restriction of the survey to IT related firms with at least 2 staff members.

IT Hardware Exports

A number of revisions were made to the 1996 survey data when the 1997 data was presented as more accurate information has become available (a revision also occurred with the release of the 1996 survey to the 1995 data). In some cases, the original survey responses were inconsistent with company accounts and in others the revisions follow a re-classification of income by some firms. Additionally, improved information about non-respondent companies has become available. The data for non-respondent companies is imputed based upon the experience of similar responding firms at the time of the survey. These revisions make direct comparisons between the 1996 figures used in this paper with the figures published in last year’s paper not possible.